Readers will find a simple plot and compassionate characters balanced with glowing pictures for a satisfying story.
First met in Ellie (2015), the eponymous, doe-eyed elephant becomes a champion of the arts as she adds music to her painting skills.
Poor Lucy the giraffe cannot sleep with the cacophony of noise in the zoo. “All Ellie wanted to do was help her friend.” Ellie shows readers true acts of compassion and problem-solving. The problem is clear: Lucy needs sleep. Ellie calmly stands by her friend’s side as each sleep aid is explored without success. When Ellie hears Betty Bluebird sing a lullaby to her babies, she has a new idea. She enlists the aid of Gerard, the wise gorilla, and organizes the animals into musical sections, just like an orchestra. She helps each animal find his or her tune. With patience and practice, Ellie changes the nightly noise in the zoo into a beautiful song that helps Lucy finally go to sleep. Wu’s expressive watercolor illustrations are imbued with kindness and comfort even through the inharmonious screaming and squinting of the noisy animals. The secondary characters have distinct personalities that clearly show what caring friends look like. Betty’s “theme” is reproduced in the backmatter; Ellie’s full score is printed on the inside of the jacket.
Readers will find a simple plot and compassionate characters balanced with glowing pictures for a satisfying story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1238-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
No laugh track required: This story should generate genuine giggles.
Saturday Night Live mainstay Thompson makes his picture-book debut with the tale of a young rabbit who discovers that being the class clown is harder than it looks.
To make a splash on his first day of school, Bunny decides to adopt a new persona: Funny Bunny. He performs his act for his classmates, who are a tough audience…or is the material the problem? (Sample joke: “What town does milk come from? Milk-waukee!”) Actually, Bunny wins over one classmate: Hedgehog thinks Bunny has comedy chops and just needs practice. This gives Bunny an idea: Why don’t they work together? (Thompson’s co-author knows something about collaborating on jokes: Tucker has been an SNL writer for two decades.) Bunny and Hedgehog’s writing sessions are fruitful, and when Bunny tries out his new material on his classmates, he brings down the house. Clearly, teamwork and persistence pay off in this silly yet heartening tale, although laughs aren’t Bunny’s only reward. In Hedgehog he has found a friend (and, from the looks of things, perhaps a manager). The book’s jokes, including two pages’ worth that conclude the story, will be manna for punsters, who presumably aren’t supposed to notice that there’s no qualitative difference between the jokes that amused Bunny’s class and the ones that bombed. Neal’s appealing digital art focuses heavily on reaction shots from an all-animal cast living in a world of amusement park colors.
No laugh track required: This story should generate genuine giggles. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781250364814
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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