A beautifully illustrated tale that will help children of divorce feel seen.
A poetic, honest, child’s-eye view of divorce.
Auset’s parents named her to honor their African American ancestors, but family honor didn’t prevent divorce. As Auset mourns being split between two homes, she finds comfort and strength in the music of Bob Marley and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Auset’s therapist isn’t skilled at “sewing kids back together,” but the protagonist confides in her stuffed animal, Dolphie the Dolphin, who knows about being “stitched / Back together” and doesn’t write notes about her when she cries. Auset’s parents’ excitement over her good grades lessens the impact of the divorce, but the family division still cuts deeply. After kids criticize Auset’s raspy voice and boyish clothes, she feels better from learning new things, listening to music she loves, and excelling in karate, but she’s not proud about hurting another kid with her martial art. Auset hides her true feelings from her mom but shares them with her dad, with whom she keeps it real. Palmer’s textured, full-color acrylic-on-canvas board illustrations capture both Auset’s love for her parents and her turmoil over their divorce, even though both are still actively involved in her daily life. This homage to Bob Marley, whose image and lyrics appear often, demonstrates that divorce is hard on kids, even if things are “gonna be all right” eventually.
A beautifully illustrated tale that will help children of divorce feel seen. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593429365
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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