OCTAVIO AND HIS GLASSES

Name: OCTAVIO AND HIS GLASSES
Author: Marc González Rossell
ISBN: 9781525313783

by Marc González Rossell ; illustrated by Marc González Rossell ; translated by Susan Ouriou ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 6, 2025

A feast for the eyes.

bookshelf

In this Spanish import, a boy’s new spectacles help him see the world anew.

After an eye exam, Octavio chooses a pair of round-framed glasses. Now, “he sees everything differently.” He can see so far that aliens come into view and so close that he can communicate with an ant. Most surprising to Octavio (judging from his eyes—wide-eyed fear mixed with curiosity), he now glimpses “things in the dark that he couldn’t before.” González Rossell’s bold, grainy black-and-white sketches, set against an ominous mustard yellow background, depict Octavio descending into a world of monsters, cheaters, and liars, good guys and bad. These intimidating images turn out to be stories in the books he’s now able to read at night with his new glasses on—tales that launch his imagination when his glasses come off. González Rossell’s vintage-style illustrations convey the bulk of emotion in Octavio’s eyes—apt for a tale about getting glasses. Readers will see frustration in his squint, a wary perplexity in his encounter with a monster, a hangdog look when he’s among the liars, and the alert thrill of reading in bed. It’s an appealingly immersive tale that will have youngsters lingering over the artwork. Characters have skin the color of the page.

A feast for the eyes. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 6, 2025

ISBN: 9781525313783

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Kids Can

Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

bookshelf

HEDGEHOGS DON'T WEAR UNDERWEAR

by Marissa Valdez ; illustrated by Marissa Valdez ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2025

Sure to have little ones giggling.

bookshelf

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
MAYA'S BIG QUESTION
by Meena Harris ; illustrated by Marissa Valdez

- BOOK REVIEW
WHO'S IN CHARGE?
by Stephanie Allain & Jenny Klion ; illustrated by Marissa Valdez

- BOOK REVIEW
HATTIE HARMONY: OPENING NIGHT
by Elizabeth Olsen & Robbie Arnett ; illustrated by Marissa Valdez

bookshelf

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...

bookshelf

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)