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THE HOMESICK CLUB

Name: THE HOMESICK CLUB
Author: Libby Martinez
ISBN: 978-1-77-306164-1

by Libby Martinez ; illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2020

A beacon for all those missing home.

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Two girls missing home find comfort in sharing their experiences.

Mónica and Hannah—founders of the “Homesick Club” and immigrants from Bolivia and Israel, respectively—empathize with newcomer teacher Miss Shelby when she shares her recent arrival to town from Texas. As Miss Shelby teaches lessons on the stars and the moon Mónica ties them to her own memories of Bolivia. Believing Miss Shelby must miss her home the way she longs for familiar hummingbirds and frogs, Mónica proposes inviting her to join the Homesick Club. But according to Hannah, who misses tortoises and the wind, she shouldn’t join because, “Miss Shelby is a teacher!” However, Mónica doesn’t give up in her effort to make Miss Shelby feel welcome. With a sprinkle of ecological science, a pinch of astronomy, and a dash of gastronomy, Martinez creates an empathetic love letter to immigrants and any person living far away from home. Paired with Gibbon’s friendly and detailed illustrations, the story is suffused with the longing of all that is left behind in a hometown or home country. A most pleasant and thoughtful detail in this endearing book is the spelling of the protagonist’s name (Mónica), which, by including the accent, further imbues the characters with cultural context. Mónica has brown skin and black hair; Hannah and Miss Shelby are both white with blonde hair.

A beacon for all those missing home. (recipe) (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: April 7, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-77-306164-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
by Pat Mora ; Libby Martinez

- BOOK REVIEW
BRAVO, CHICO CANTA! BRAVO!
by Pat Mora ; Libby Martinez ; illustrated by Amelia Lau Carling

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)