A silly, charming story of friendship and bravery that provides plenty of giggles for early readers.
In Jussawalla’s children’s book, three animal friends leave the safety of their farm and find themselves in the big city.
Nugget the chicken wakes up ready for an adventure, but no other farm animals want to join in, aside from Noodles the lamb and Rib the pig. When they see Farmer Joe driving past in his truck, the trio hop in the back and soon discover their mystery destination: the big city. They jump out of the truck and into the crowded streets, immediately getting separated. Nugget wanders into an office building, where she’s mistaken for a new employee and instructed to start immediately on an important presentation. Noodles rolls down a flight of stairs and winds up in the subway, where he accompanies a street musician. Rib enters a fancy restaurant and is asked by the chef to come back to the kitchen, where he’s put in charge of making minestrone soup. The friends eventually make their way back to each other and share tales of their exploits when they spot Farmer Joe’s truck passing by. They hop back on and head home, already dreaming of their next adventure. Saavi K’s illustrations are a delight, bursting with bright colors and bold lines depicting cartoonishly cute animals walking upright. The text appears in different fonts and colors to emphasize dialogue, taking on different shapes depending on the picture (sentences wind up and down to mimic the winding road that Farmer Joe drives down, for example). The dialogue can get a bit tiresome, only because it is almost always capitalized, making it seem as though everyone is yelling. But Jussawalla’s clever story offers up so many laugh-out-loud moments (“The elephant just stood there and stared. (No one knew why there was an elephant on the farm, but there it was”) that parents and children alike are sure to delight in the trio’s antics.
A silly, charming story of friendship and bravery that provides plenty of giggles for early readers.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781038303103
Page Count: 44
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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