A message worth sharing.
This picture book frames the actions one takes in life as a person’s story and encourages readers to write theirs well.
“You’re writing a story / with everything you do. / What’s this story about? / It’s the story of you!” So begins this inspirational poem matched with images of diverse children doing all sorts of activities and making decisions that add to their stories. Using social examples, like being kind and fair or sharing, as well as individual examples like trying something new and exploring, the text places the power in the individual’s hands. A turn in tone reminds readers that when they face moral dilemmas or feel shy or angry, they are still writing their stories. Without telling readers how to proceed, it highlights those moments of consequential decision-making. The text and powerful close-up imagery also elevate choices to do the brave thing or the right thing when it’s not easy—“when you’re scared, but speak up”—as important story-writing moments. Joyful, innocently smiling children of various racial presentations and physical abilities play sports, dance, make art, protest, and play in pastel-hued illustrations that alternate among vignettes, full-page portraits, and double-page scenes. The rhyming stanzas make this an enjoyable read, and the unique but simple concept offers a thoughtful way to begin ongoing discussions about choices with young people. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A message worth sharing. (Picture book. 3-9)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63592-311-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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
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