Reassuring.
A child goes through a day at preschool, feeling many moods along the way.
This textually ungendered child (with medium-length dark hair in a barrette) awakens pink-cheeked and smiling, in a bedroom awash with pink, with a pink sun shining in. “You’re pink,” says the second-person text. On the next spread, “You’re teal”: The child gazes contentedly through the teal-colored water in a fish tank housing a teal-colored fish. Each spread highlights one hue, and items follow that change deliciously from page to page: The pajama top that was checked pink becomes checked teal; a picture of an ice cream cone, previously pink, turns teal. The verse patters gently: “You’re scarlet, / mauve, and purpley too. / Lilac, / magenta, / a quiet ecru.” Some colors have traditional mood connections: gray or blue for sadness, red for anger. Some carry other meanings: “every golden, warmy shade” shows the warmth of the preschool’s vibe and claims racial diversity for the class. (Eye shape and hair texture imply racial distinctions, though everyone has the matte white skin of the background paper, including the protagonist.) The occasional obscure mood-color connection doesn’t detract, and although some moods’ causes go unexplained, they can be guessed at. Sicuro’s ink figures and watercolor-and-gouache backgrounds have a light, earnest touch. Pair with Tameka Fryer Brown and Shane W. Evans’ bright and imaginative My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood (2013).
Reassuring. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5846-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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BOOK REVIEW
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Sure to have little ones giggling.
Jacques is a hedgehog with a big secret: “I wear real, bona fide underwear.”
Our narrator received a mysterious package one day; an illustration shows a pair of underwear tied to a balloon with a note “from the Universe” floating down into Jacques’ burrow. Hedgehogs don’t wear underwear, however. Will Jacques be shunned? Jacques worries but comes to a decision: “I have to wear them. When I do I feel special.” Determined, Jacques, who’s been invited to a party, makes a dramatic entrance, with undies in hand. Jacques’ declaration (“I WEAR UNDERWEAR”) is met with remarks of dismay, before another hedgehog opens up about similar fears and shows off a pair of cowboy boots. More hedgehogs introduce themselves with their own confessions. The story ends with Jacques unveiling a painting of the underwear in a gallery filled with hedgehogs wearing all sorts of attire. Though the book is simple in plot, characters, and setting, it wins in its balance of bathroom humor, dramatic storytelling, and celebrations of individual expression. French words are peppered throughout, adding to the fun without detracting from the story for those unfamiliar with the language. The cartoonish illustrations brim with fun; Valdez relies heavily on geometric shapes (triangle noses for the hedgehogs; huge circles for their eyes). Details such as speech bubbles and recurring turtle and snake characters contribute to the outlandish humor.
Sure to have little ones giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781250814388
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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