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TINY BEAR GOES MISSING

Name: TINY BEAR GOES MISSING
Author: Manka Kasha
ISBN: 9781250856999

by Manka Kasha ; illustrated by Manka Kasha ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2025

A charming and creative take on adapting to life with anxiety.

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The diminutive hero introduced in Small Knight and the Angry Prince (2023) returns for a more personal adventure.

Pale-skinned, brave Small Knight (who uses they/them pronouns) and their trusted companion, Tiny Bear (plush but seemingly sentient), explore a cave aglow with shining crystals but wind up falling asleep. Some taller knights bring the little human back to the palace, where the queen is waiting, but where is Tiny Bear? As Small Knight frets, a jar breaks, and the Anxiety Monster (captured offscreen at the beginning of the book) emerges. Small Knight stands up to the monster, depicted as coalesced ink scribbles with horns. But as Small Knight unsuccessfully looks for Tiny Bear, their fears mount and the monster grows. The child decides to search the cave and commands the beast to accompany them. But the Anxiety Monster begins to worry, too, and Small Knight reassures it. This back-and-forth defines the youngster’s relationship to the monster and to anxiety itself—at times it can be overcome, but sometimes it’s in control. When all are safe again, the Anxiety Monster shrinks, and Small Knight finds a cozier yet still secure home for it. In the author’s note, Kasha discusses the challenges of coping with anxiety. Accompanied by quaint, atmospherically fantastical watercolor-and-ink illustrations, her story offers an accessible depiction of doing so, which many readers will find validating. Small Knight and the queen are light-skinned; the other knights are darker-skinned.

A charming and creative take on adapting to life with anxiety. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 4, 2025

ISBN: 9781250856999

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
SMALL KNIGHT AND THE ANGRY PRINCE
by Manka Kasha

- BOOK REVIEW
MINDFUL WONDERS
by Michelle Zivkov ; illustrated by Manka Kasha

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)