A pleasant work with vivid colors, benign animals, and an easy-to-understand theme.
In this brief picture book for early readers, a kindly bear shares a favorite treat.
The story begins with a quote attributed to the Buddha: “Give, even if you only have a little.” A shaggy, yellow bear effectively models this behavior after “coming back from the store / With a tasty watermelon in tow.” By a lake, the bear settles in to enjoy his treat when a hungry friend, Mr. Squirrel, greets him. The bear gives him half the melon, and when another pal, Mr. Moose, appears, the bear happily gives him the other half. A bird, who’s witnessed all this, asks him about his giving away his last piece of melon, which allows the bear—and author Schustrin—to earnestly and simply deliver the book’s lesson about how sharing feels good. This message is also clearly reflected in the glow of veteran illustrator Island’s bright color palette—sunny yellow, shades of purple, pink, and blue and a recurring lotus blossom motif—which adds interest to the cozy animal characters. That said, children who are just learning the names for colors may be confused when a character named Ms. Bluebird is pictured as pink. Further volumes of Schustrin’s Wise Baby book series, which aims to introduce kids to elements of “universal wisdom,” are planned.
A pleasant work with vivid colors, benign animals, and an easy-to-understand theme.Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-7370856-1-4
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Ava Bear Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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