Friends are literally what you make of them in this highly amusing jaunt into the unknown.
Parental ingenuity saves the day once more.
The young elephant who narrates this story is thrilled: “We are going camping. I’ve never been before. I. CAN’T. WAIT.” The little pachyderm’s parent suggests bringing a stuffed toy along, but our hero is a worldly 5-year-old who doesn’t need a comfort object! The caregiver repeatedly asks if this is a wise choice, but the youngster blows off any concerns. At first, all goes well, and camping is a wonderful adventure, but that night things take a turn. It’s dark, the sleeping bag is sweaty, the ground is hard, and the little one cracks. The young elephant’s “WHY DIDN’T YOU MAKE ME BRING MY STUFFIES?” will feel uncomfortably familiar to many adult readers. Desperate, the grown-up presents a pair of partially balled-up socks and dubs the creation “Sockflea.” Initially skeptical, the youngster falls hard for the makeshift stuffie’s charms, and the trip is a rousing success. The book even sticks the landing with an ending in which the young one realizes with horror that the adult is now casually wearing Sockflea around the house. Droll humor abounds in Dockrill’s narration, which perfectly captures a youngster’s mentality, pairing beautifully with Byrne’s thoroughly enticing digital art. Meanwhile, emotions roll off both the little elephant and the put-upon (and fairly anxious) grown-up, with even Sockflea sporting a delightfully benign smile.
Friends are literally what you make of them in this highly amusing jaunt into the unknown. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781536245103
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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