An engaging but imperfect introduction to the alphabet and America.
A picture book traverses the many traditions and symbols of the United States.
From A is for “American Flag” to Z is for “Zip Code,” young readers will discover the big symbols and everyday pillars of life in the U.S. as they watch two light-skinned children dance their way across each letter of the alphabet. The abecedarium opens with several of America’s biggest icons, including its flag, buffalo, cowboys, and the bald eagle. Each letter and its associated word are accompanied by a short fact, such as “The Grand Canyon is one of the largest canyons in the world,” and a picture of the children interacting with the topic at hand. These statements assume a basic familiarity on the part of readers but still serve as a meaningful addition to the otherwise list-like text. Given her broad topic, Ratnikova skips between highlighting famous images and common sights like food trucks, police cars, and extra-large milkshakes. Sports, holidays, famous cities, and more all appear in the pages of her eighth title, her newest since 2025’s The Giant Carrot and the spiritual successor to My ABC Florida (2025). Not all of the story’s images are unique to the U.S. and thus the wide variety muddies the book’s throughline, but the words are important parts of daily life nonetheless. Lisichkina’s full-page illustrations are colorful and warm. Still, it is worth noting that they lack the racial diversity that is a signature of American life.
An engaging but imperfect introduction to the alphabet and America.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2025
ISBN: 9798273658950
Page Count: 33
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit.
The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.
Addressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings (Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows—beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969; the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided); the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System; and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Still, the art has a stylish retro look, and portraits of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford diversify an otherwise all-white, all-male astronaut corps posing heroically or riding blocky, geometric spacecraft across starry reaches.
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-55-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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