An enjoyable and relatable tale of childhood mishaps.
An unsupervised kid makes a mess in the house in this picture book.
While his babysitter is distracted and his sister, Molly, naps, Billy, a Black child, decides to bake cookies. Trying to recall how his mom makes them, he mixes sugar, butter, and a “full carton of eggs.” When Billy accidentally knocks over the flour canister, it hits the bowl, sending ingredients flying everywhere. The commotion wakes Molly up. Billy reassures his sister that after a bath, he’ll clean up. Billy doesn’t recall how much bubble soap his mom adds to the tub, so he uses the entire bottle. He enjoys his soak but forgets to shut off the tap, resulting in a flood in the bathroom. Hearing the noise, Molly barges in and climbs on the windowsill, afraid because she doesn’t know how to swim. Just then, “Mommy rushed in….Her shoes were covered with eggs and flour. When she saw the scene…she was speechless.” Now, she makes sure the kitchen is stocked with cookies before she goes out and that her son has a book to read during Molly’s naptime. Dee’s eventful tale depicts how well-intentioned childhood curiosity can lead to chaotic, sometimes comical misadventures. The silly scenes here will amuse young readers familiar with messy situations of their own. Displaying bright, engaging colors, Perko’s illustrations creatively mirror the hectic events. Details like puffs of white flour dust and rubber ducks bobbing in the water are fun touches.
An enjoyable and relatable tale of childhood mishaps.Pub Date: June 24, 2021
ISBN: 979-8511680569
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.
The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.
Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9780593621110
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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