A tender tribute to birthdays and friendship—two things that only get better with age.
In this Australian import, a shared birthday leads to a relationship that lasts a lifetime.
Gus the crocodile loves performing for the zoo’s many visitors, “splashing and snapping for the cameras,” but his favorite guest is pale-skinned young Edward. While visiting the reptile enclosure on his birthday, Edward witnessed Gus hatch from his egg, and since then, he’s returned each year so the two can celebrate their big day together. When he grows up, Edward becomes a zookeeper who works at the reptile house, and he continues to visit on their birthday even after he retires. Though both are slowing down in their old age (Gus often feels “too tired to splash and snap,” while Edward complains of his aching hip), their bond endures. Until the day Edward fails to show up on their birthday. Worried, Gus sets out for Edward’s retirement home and discovers that his pal hasn’t forgotten about him, but he’s physically unable to make the trek to the zoo. An understanding nursing home attendant offers a solution, bringing Murray’s quiet friendship tale to a satisfying close. Serageldine’s soft, hazy illustrations anthropomorphize the title character with aplomb; big-eyed Gus sports a diaper after hatching and wears orange swimming trunks as an adult. Sight gags—Gus getting tangled in a retirement home resident’s knitting as he surreptitiously attempts to find Edward, Edward’s crocodile-covered jammies—infuse this sentimental tale with humor.
A tender tribute to birthdays and friendship—two things that only get better with age. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781922610720
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Berbay Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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