A well-meaning introduction to the 50 states that will prompt as many questions from young readers as it does answers.
A toy travels to all 50 U.S. states after being separated from his human family in Shampanier’s picture book.
When the Columbus family goes on vacation, a toy named Dino Boy falls out of the car at the last minute without anyone noticing. Dino Boy, who resembles a small pale-skinned child dressed in a green dinosaur costume, refuses to stay home, so he embarks on a trip of his own through each of the 50 U.S. states to try to catch up to the Columbuses. His journey begins in his home state of California, where he explores landmarks from Hollywood to the Golden Gate Bridge. He soon gives up and moves on to Oregon (“He rode up north on his family’s tail, / From Crater Lake to the Oregon Trail”) and the other Pacific Coast states before looping around to the West, the Midwest, and eventually the rest of the country. Each state he visits receives its own dedicated page in the book, including an illustrated state map, a smaller map indicating its location within the U.S., and fun facts like the state’s nickname, flag, and capital. Occasionally, friends like Hamburger Hippo and Tina the Ballerina accompany him for a leg of the journey, but in the end, it takes a return all the way home to California for Dino Boy to find what he’s looking for. In this sequel to Shampanier’s first book, Lost and Found (2022), the hero demonstrates persistence and resourcefulness to an audience who ideally has an interest in geography. The book’s mentions of famous landmarks may leave readers with questions for further research, as will the financial logistics of Dino Boy’s travels, which stretch credibility. Pavón’s bright and dynamic art highlights a single location per page alongside detailed inset maps and better demonstrate all of what each state has to offer.
A well-meaning introduction to the 50 states that will prompt as many questions from young readers as it does answers.Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9798987503584
Page Count: 58
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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BOOK REVIEW
Not astonishingly go-out-and-buy-it-at-graduation inspirational, but all it takes is one seed of change to be planted.
Imagination soars—quite literally—when a little girl follows her own set of rules.
Every year Oak Hill School has a go-kart race called the Going Places contest. Students are given identical go-kart kits with a precise set of instructions. And of course, every single kart ends up exactly the same. Every one, that is, except Maya’s. Maya is a dreamy artist, and she would rather sketch birds in her backyard than get caught up in the competition. When she finally does start working, she uses the parts in the go-kart box but creates something completely different. No one ever said it had to be a go-kart. Maya’s creative thinking inspires Rafael, her neighbor (and the most enthusiastic Going Places contestant), to ask to team up. The instructions never say they couldn’t work together, either! An ode to creativity and individuality to be sure, but the Reynolds brothers are also taking a swipe at modern education: Endless repetition and following instructions without question create a culture of conformity. Hopefully now, readers will see infinite possibility every time the system hands them an identical go-kart box.
Not astonishingly go-out-and-buy-it-at-graduation inspirational, but all it takes is one seed of change to be planted. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-6608-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
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