A gentle and respectful introduction to the grieving process.
Sharp offers an illustrated children’s story about schoolkids coping with a classroom pet’s demise.
The story opens on Maggie, a young girl looking forward to seeing Sweetie Pie, the class guinea pig. The previous night, Ms. Lamms, her teacher, took the guinea pig home because the animal wasn’t feeling well. When class starts this morning, Ms. Lamms instructs the students to take a deep breath. “Did you know that when it is time for us to leave this earth, we take our last breath?” she asks them. She then informs the kids that Sweetie Pie took her last breath that morning. When the children realize that Sweetie Pie has died, they are full of questions: “Where is she now?” “Can we see her?” “Does she look scary now?” Maggie cries, and Ms. Lamms affirms that death is sad. She encourages the students to share memories of Sweetie Pie, and they recall the guinea pig’s penchant for putting her paws on the sides of her cage, snacking on organic carrots and lettuce, and chewing Kleenex boxes. Then Ms. Lamms suggests burying Sweetie Pie in a shoebox, and the students create art to add to the box: “We’re still sad, but we feel better after making art for Sweetie Pie and sharing our love for her,” Maggie says. Sharp provides children and their parents with an emotionally intelligent blueprint for discussing death. Maggie expresses a range of genuine emotions about Sweetie Pie’s passing, from confusion to sadness to nostalgia. Ms. Lamms compassionately guides the kids’ grieving process, but also allows them agency in coping with the event. Sharp evokes sensory memories of Sweetie Pie, including her unique call, twinkly eyes, soft fur, and veggie-scented breath. Pritchett’s soft, warm illustrations capture the characters’ sadness with teary eyes and sad frowns. However, the depiction of grieving is somewhat speedier and more linear than it is in real life, and although Maggie and Ms. Lamms are sufficiently developed as characters, others receive little attention.
A gentle and respectful introduction to the grieving process.Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781962416757
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Brandylane Publishers, Inc.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown.
In Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Hurts’ motivational picture book, a youngster rebounds from disappointment.
As Jalen heads off on his first day of school, he daydreams about joining the football team, but his friend Trey soon breaks the bad news. The garden club needed more space for vegetables, so the football field was used for planting. There will be no football this year. Jalen is despondent, but his teachers Mrs. Lee and Mr. Barry and bodega owner Mr. Muhammad offer guidance that spurs him and his friends into positive action. They work to flip a nearby empty lot into a football field, with Jalen echoing his mentors’ adages. Once the field is complete, Jalen feels a swell of pride in his and his friends’ work. While the idea of kids working together to effect change is a laudable one, the bland, wordy storytelling won’t inspire young people or hold their attention. Tired, cliched inspirational comments peppered throughout often slow down the narrative, and many adult readers will find the premise—a school dropping a high-interest sports program in favor of a community garden—wildly unrealistic. Though the illustrations are colorful, with a Disney Junior charm, strange stylistic choices, such as signs with odd combinations of scribbles instead of letters, give them an unpolished look. Like Hurts, Jalen is Black; his community is diverse.
Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9798217040308
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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