Those who can get behind the Little Green Girl’s faceless anthropomorphism might find the gambols of this...
A girl plant, nurtured from a wind-borne seed, helps a homebody gardener branch out and see the world.
Habit-loving Mr. Aster has an abiding love for garden, greenhouse, and home. “But tending a new seed fit nicely into Mr. Aster’s routine.” Soon, the growing plant achieves a personified sentience—and a gender, courtesy of an omniscient narrator. Mr. Aster, who is white, transplants the Little Green Girl and tells her about “their world.” In the walled garden among free-form trees and shrubs, the Little Green Girl is a faceless, leafy figure with a sunflowerlike crown and short, flared skirt accented with orange-yellow blossoms. She enjoys dog Basil and the garden’s squirrels and rabbits, but migrating birds, regaling her with their travels, induce wanderlust. Mr. Aster thwarts her attempts to leave, pruning her vining stems and (oddly) bandaging the roots she tries to pull up. Determined, she enjoins the animals to help her dig herself up and confronts Mr. Aster, appearing before him transplanted into a pot, wearing sunglasses. Man, dog, and plant set off, with Anchin’s amusing full-bleed and spot illustrations (in acryla gouache and pencil) placing them in tropical, desert, and urban settings. Travel broadens Mr. Aster: He plants succulents and palms, and he even initiates the trio’s next trip.
Those who can get behind the Little Green Girl’s faceless anthropomorphism might find the gambols of this quasi–father-daughter team diverting. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-735-23073-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.
After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.
Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622360
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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