A fun, layered work with a gentle message about learning artistic flexibility.
A young girl is poised to paint, but she can’t find her heirloom paintbrush in Hawthorne’s illustrated children’s book.
There are many words to describe Gloria B. Wilson: enthusiastic, adventurous, dedicated, and most of all, artistic. She loves to paint scenes from her everyday life with her favorite brush, which has been passed down by female painters in her family for several generations. Without it, she doesn’t feel that she can make art at all. One day, Gloria is ready to complete her at-home art gallery when she realizes she’s lost the heirloom art tool: “How in the WORLD am I going to create my art and finish my gallery if I don’t have my favorite paintbrush?” she frets. It isn’t long until she concocts a plan to take her trusty camera and her pet dog (named Dog) around town, retracing her steps as she searches for the lost item. She investigates a bird’s nest, a hill, and a marina; as she explores, young readers will enjoy spotting the paintbrush in illustrator Van Fossan’s painterly backgrounds, always just beyond Gloria’s notice. It may be hidden in a bird’s nest, for example, or in the clutches of a shiny red crab. The protagonist’s quest ends unexpectedly with a touch of tongue-in-cheek humor that hints that her adventures aren’t over yet. She effectively learns that a lot of good can come from a bad situation and that her artistic powers are not diminished by the lack of her usual tool. This is a story that relies heavily on the illustrations, which feature plot points that the text doesn’t, such as Gloria’s losing the paintbrush because she was playing fetch with Dog. Van Fossan’s cartoon art style echoes that of a child’s with some refinements, much like Gloria’s own art. Gloria is depicted with brown skin; the few other human characters, in a photo or in person, have a range of skin tones.
A fun, layered work with a gentle message about learning artistic flexibility.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781960492029
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Three Plus One Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.
Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780063460775
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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