A classic, traditional tale of heroine, villain, and hero—perhaps too traditional.
In this British picture-book melodrama, a dancing mouse named Marguerite is bullied by the rat Randolph and eventually rescued by the shy but heroic mouse Benjamin.
A calligraphic letter B starts off the descriptive text: “Benjamin lived at the bottom of the tallest steeple in the cathedral yard….Marguerite lived next to the little fountain….Every day Benjamin watched Marguerite dancing around the fountain. He longed to be friends with her but Benjamin was shy and didn’t dare. So Marguerite danced alone.” When Randolph, whose eyes are “as black as oil,” dances with Marguerite, it is only because he is scheming to have the fountain to himself. When Randolph banishes Marguerite to a tiny space in the old sewer, Benjamin—with some assistance from Marguerite—finds and realizes his own courage and ingenuity. The artwork is priceless: watercolors that accurately reflect all the rodents’ emotions and show well-conceived backgrounds. Unfortunately, they draw on tired tropes of color: villainous bully Randolph is black; dainty, beautiful Marguerite is white; timid Benjamin is light brown. This combines with the antiquated maiden-in-need-of-rescue storyline to reinforce attitudes and associations that need to be put in the past. At times, the busy layouts make following the text sequence difficult, which distracts from the high drama that provides a primer on bullying.
A classic, traditional tale of heroine, villain, and hero—perhaps too traditional. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-857337-97-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Hutton Grove
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.
Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780063460775
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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