There are few books available for young readers about these important soil-improvers, so this fills a niche.
With her own set of superpowers, a mole navigates underground, finding food, escaping predators, raising a family, and aerating and enriching the soil around her.
This introduction to the underground ecosystem starring Mighty Mole also mentions other soil dwellers and visitors. The two-level text includes a simple narrative describing the mole’s customary activities, with a repeated refrain: “Scratch. Push. Scratch. Push.” This is accompanied by a reduced-font paragraph of further information. Both are set on double-page spreads with dramatically lit digital paintings: detailed, oversized close-ups of subterranean animals and the soil that surrounds them and occasional views of the world aboveground, the background fading into a soft-focused distance. Like other nature books produced by this publisher, this valuable title includes several pages of backmatter: further information for readers and teachers about moles and the soil they live in, as well as a quiz. A QR code on the back takes readers to the publisher's website for still more information, including a glossary, and activities. It’s unfortunate that the text labels these earthworm-eaters “insectivores,” defining that word in context as eating “insects, snails, slugs, centipedes, and larvae.” Though this is the term used by biologists, it will likely confuse lay readers.
There are few books available for young readers about these important soil-improvers, so this fills a niche. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58469-538-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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