A rousing story to kickstart conversations about growth and determination.
A student discovers a newfound confidence when she reframes her dreams of the future.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Miss Rayna gives Charley and her classmates a daunting prompt as part of Dream Big Week. “I want to be an astronaut!” “I’m going to be a famous actor!” “I’m going to be an engineer!” Students excitedly spout off goals, inscribing their dreams on a pair of custom wings that Miss Rayna hands out. Charley doesn’t share her peers’ enthusiasm—she has no idea how to answer such a big question. As Charley’s anxiety swells, Reynolds uses color, tone, and perspective to show just how overwhelmed she feels; one particularly strong illustration depicts a rocket blasting off, reflected in her large round glasses, a look of dizzying panic on her face. Walking home, Charley feels frozen with uncertainty when she notices something that points her in the right direction—and has her feeling determined, confident, and ready for her wings. Reynolds conveys a message of perseverance, reassuring readers that it’s OK not to have all the answers. His airy, inspiring illustrations burst with warm orange tones. The story is sure to spark similar activities or dialogue among classrooms participating in their own Dream Big Week–type celebration. Charley is tan-skinned; her class is diverse.
A rousing story to kickstart conversations about growth and determination. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781339000350
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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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
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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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