by Marcie Colleen ; illustrated by Emma Yarlett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 30, 2018
A funny and sharp story with nuance.
A little penguin tries to outshine his zoo friends, but there’s a surprise in store for him.
Penguin Orville lives in the zoo and has many big friends, such as an elephant, a giraffe, and a lion. These big friends go on big adventures, and Orville is sad because he misses out. He wants to feel big too, so he decides he is going to go to the moon. With some trial and error, he manages to build a spaceship. He defiantly proclaims, “I can do this myself,” when his friends offer to help him or express doubt. His big adventure is successful, and he lands on the moon—but while he’s thrilled to have made it, soon he starts to miss his friends and wonders if this is what he really wanted to do. With some introspection and the support of his friends, Orville discovers his biggest adventure yet! This empowering story is conveyed beautifully with simple text that’s distinguished by gentle wordplay and remarkable mixed-media illustrations. Yarlett’s detailed depictions, including the cartoon-style portraits of stylized, friendly-looking zoo animals, bring the story alive. Small details delight, as when Orville sketches his diagrams on the elephant’s hide. The satisfying tale also leaves room for an interesting conversation about whether adventures would be more fun with or without friends.
A funny and sharp story with nuance. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-84884-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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by Marcie Colleen ; illustrated by Aaron Becker
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2021
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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More by Alice Hemming
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff
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by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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