A well-illustrated tale with thoughtful, age-appropriate messages of unity and diversity.
Kids unite in protesting an unfair ban on a fellow elementary school student’s cultural tradition in Elzein’s picture book.
Lisa is delighted when Lulu, a little girl about her age, moves in across the street. They bond over ice cream in the park, and Lisa admires the pretty headscarf, a hijab, that Lulu wears. The next day, the two friends walk together to school, where the principal tells Lulu that, due to a new ban, she must remove her hijab to enter. Lulu tells him that she cannot do so; he’s sympathetic, but says that everyone must follow the rules. Lisa supports Lulu’s stand by refusing to go to school if Lulu can’t, and soon gets other students to join their cause. Elzein’s clear text is never heavy-handed and models empathy in the actions of the students, parents, and a teacher, showing how simple action can effect positive change. The author’s vision of peaceful coexistence is complemented by Hasan’s full-color cartoonlike illustrations, which visualize the suburban world of Lisa (who’s Black), and Lulu (a light-skinned Muslim), in deft, full-page imagery. Lively, detailed scenes feature the park, a classroom, the interiors of the girls’ homes, and kids with varying skin tones and abilities. Sharp-eyed readers will also spot two cheery birds, yellow and blue, recurring throughout.
A well-illustrated tale with thoughtful, age-appropriate messages of unity and diversity.Pub Date: April 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-954507-06-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A reassuring riff on embracing imperfections.
A young rabbit frets about her upcoming violin performance in Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey’s literary debut.
Mei Mei’s dream—“to share her music with the world”—is about to come true. She’s having her very first recital, complete with an orchestra, at the H’Opera House. But the day before the concert, Mei Mei is racked with anxiety. What if she plays a bum note in front of everyone? Sure enough, the worst happens mid-performance: She hits a clinker. But by remembering her mom’s reassuring sentiments from the night before (“Feel the wind…find the notes to make it right”), Mei Mei summons the strength to soldier on, and “wrong notes become right. Dissonance becomes beautiful.” At times, it all feels more like a resilience parable than a story, and the writing can be precious (“The flutter of butterflies wakes Mei Mei from her slumber”). Still, the message is solid, bolstered by O’Hara’s pencil and watercolor illustrations, which are plush-toy soft—fitting, as even prior to this book’s publication, a stuffed Mei Mei has been for sale at Grammy winner Laufey’s website. The tale features an all-animal, all-adorable cast, and endearingly, the art betrays no hint of modern times. A standout image presents Mei Mei onstage, temporarily incapacitated by her mistake and imagining her fellow musicians and their instruments with the color-blasted menace of an expressionist painting.
A reassuring riff on embracing imperfections. (author’s note, glossary) (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9798217051748
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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