Engaging wordplay makes a serious point about inclusion.
Feathered friends are flustered when flamingos move into the neighborhood.
Flamboyance describes a group of flamingos, just like a waddle of penguins or a brood of chickens. But these flamingos aren’t just flamboyantly bright pink—they also wear tiaras and feather boas, and one sports a rainbow mohawk. The longtime residents are all atwitter, often alliteratively. A “gaggle of geese gathered to gab. ‘Flamingos! Really? In our backyard?’ ” Every bird family seems to have an opinion, and it’s a negative one. A squadron of pelicans creates a daytime neighborhood watch. Nightingales take the late shift. Finally, all the birds flock together to march on the flamingos’ new home. Luckily, when the flamingos open their door, wrens chime, “Stay calm,” and the wisdom of owls has brought “a heaping plate of algae for the new neighbors.” The flamingos then reveal a surprise—a “welcome to our home” party—with all their new neighbors invited. For all the colorful illustrations, fun collective nouns (a list is in the backmatter), and clever wordplay and alliteration, this book has a serious message about “inclusion, exclusion, and the stereotypes, fears, and assumptions that can lead to discrimination,” as the author’s note explains. Dialogue in the concluding scene is unsubtle (“Differences don’t have to be scary”; “What were we getting so worked up about?”), but this story is a welcome springboard for age-appropriate discussions of assumptions, stereotypes, and inclusion. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Engaging wordplay makes a serious point about inclusion. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3278-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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