A comedic hit, especially for older siblings.
A 2-year-old acts like a typical toddler in this debut picture book that offers a humorous, motivational riff on the phrase “you only live once.”
The narrator, who delivers encouragement like a keynote speaker, begins with the title phrase, which is repeated throughout the tale. As the cheerful toddler—rosy-cheeked and wide-eyed in Arumba’s soft digital cartoons—wakes the dark-skinned father and lighter-skinned mother, the narrator urges: “Start each day by witnessing / the beauty of the sunrise.” Each moment of the day is given another aphorism, moving from only eating food you like at breakfast to trying new tastes at playtime—as a pet’s tail ends up on the toddler’s tongue. The advice is frequently paired with illustrations that belie the positive tone: Speaking one’s mind becomes shouting and throwing things; embracing art is shown as drawing on walls. Despite the misbehavior, the child, who wears a jumper but is never gendered in the text, is surrounded by love. Two-year-olds aren’t likely to recognize the humor in the contrasting text and art, but older readers—especially children with younger siblings—will feel they are in on the joke. Parents may be the most amused of all. Arumba’s art is cheerful throughout and supplies just as much storytelling as Costello’s accessible text. The naughty toddler faces no consequences here; instead, there’s a sense that this mischief, too, shall pass. The repeated title phrase may encourage even the youngest lap readers to chime in.
A comedic hit, especially for older siblings.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73-683950-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Canette Books
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A silly snack guaranteed to satisfy the funny bone; kids will eat it up and ask for more.
In this droll tale, ostensibly straightforward instructions are a recipe for absurdity.
To obtain the two slices of bread that a jelly sandwich calls for, a brown-skinned youngster named Frankie instructs readers to head to the store. But NOT to the bakery aisle! Instead, buy “one orange [traffic] cone, scuba flippers, and a yellow inner tube.” Using those items to fashion a duck disguise, you’ll score the bread from a brown-skinned elder feeding wildfowl in the park. And if the ducks see through your pretense, you might have to practice your “quack-cent.” Similar maneuvers are required to open the jelly jar: You’ll need peanuts, a playground with a “whirly-go-round,” and an elephant with a strong trunk grip. (But if the jar is carelessly opened upside down, you’ll get a “jellyphant.”) To spread the jelly, you must first scrub a dog in your bathtub. (Dip the clean tail in the jelly, then pet and praise the dog until it happily wags its tail over the bread slices.) Putting the slices together requires a knightly tournament, but cutting the sandwich, “the least complicated step of all,” involves training a hamster to ride a unicycle. The final pages propose an alternative (but just as outrageous) method and invite readers to think up their own ridiculous techniques. Burach’s scenarios are inventive and hilarious, while his exaggerated cartoon illustrations reinforce the delicious jokiness each step of the way.
A silly snack guaranteed to satisfy the funny bone; kids will eat it up and ask for more. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781338877090
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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