A satisfying conclusion to a visually vibrant, universally relatable story.
McGrath brings his friendship-focused series centered on a bird’s nest to a fine-feathered finale.
In spring, Bird alighted on a blossoming cherry tree, hoping to find a best friend. Spider showed up to help Bird sing a Spring Song of Friendship to attract one. As summer heated up, the pair revived a dried-out worm, who in turn helped them cool down a bit. In breezy, orange and crimson autumn, the trio discovered a shy hedgehog under Bird’s newly built bower and tried singing the Autumn Song with this spiky companion, hoping their efforts would net Bird a (preferably avian) best buddy. Now, the year draws to a close. The tree is completely leafless, snow blankets the ground, and Spider is knitting a scarf for someone special. Bird tries to sing the Winter Song of Friendship, but it’s so cold that he can’t make a peep. What can the central quartet, huddled together to keep warm, do to help Bird find a friend? Cat, who has been lurking in the margins of their previous stories, shivers below and, at long last, asks to join them. Bird remains skeptical of this carnivorous critter, but a rather inevitable—though thoroughly delightful—epiphany lies in wait. A bare, chilly cherry tree provides a snuggle-worthy setting for this warm and happy ending to Bird’s journey through the year.
A satisfying conclusion to a visually vibrant, universally relatable story. (Graphic early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9798765648155
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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