Like the earlier Happy (2012), this conveys emotional heft and arresting images in an appealing, child-size package.
With only a dozen or so words and spectacular images, van Hout captures the landscape of friendship for toddlers through teens and beyond.
The colors are jewel-bright on black pages, and each opening shows a pair of figures, usually a larger one and a small one, and a single word. They are animals or monsters or little gnomelike creatures, but they are all vibrantly alive. “Play” features a yellow four-legged guy in a striped sweater, and clinging to his ear and having a splendid time is a small teal poppet with horns, a tail and a ruffled scarlet dress. “Bore” finds a huge purple creature flat on his back with all four feet and tail in the air; splayed on his tail in a boneless posture of inertia is a small green-clad one. “Tease” finds a little yellow guy in a green dress shamelessly poking the nose of a very bristly beastie, while “fight” has creatures close in size tangled in jagged fury. There is crying and making up, embarrassment with very red cheeks and perfect “trust,” as a tiny figure balances on one foot on the blue snout of a creature with a great many teeth.
Like the earlier Happy (2012), this conveys emotional heft and arresting images in an appealing, child-size package. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-9359-5423-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lemniscaat USA
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
An instructive tale about big feelings, lightened up by a furious kid’s theatrics.
An angry child attempts to calm down.
A kid with paper-white skin, clad in a blue dress and striped tights, makes an absurd request: “Can we get a pet penguin, name it Marshmallow, and feed it carrots?” Mom, off-stage, says simply, “Not today,” and the tot transforms into a rather odd creature: a spicy nugget! The nugget is imperfectly ovoid in form, with red rosy cheeks, rage-filled dot-eyes, and a spiraling black-hole mouth. The sight gag works beautifully: When one feels truly angry, all poise disappears, leaving only a flailing ball of rage. Our protagonist hurls a teddy bear, unsuccessfully tries out a list of calming methods, and finally retreats to bed, where “I can feel my breathing; I know that I am safe.” The youngster reverts back to human form, and Mom arrives with kind words: “You are not your big feelings. You are not your angry thoughts.” The takeaway is unmistakable, especially at the story’s conclusion: It’s OK to get mad and important to practice coping strategies. The young narrator expresses emotion with fabulous vigor, though the story’s lilting rhyme scheme occasionally distracts from these outbursts with cuteness. Nonetheless, this increasingly enraged nugget-child is irresistible; anyone who’s grappled with overwhelming emotions will relate—in a word, everyone.
An instructive tale about big feelings, lightened up by a furious kid’s theatrics. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9798217042142
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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