Conveys a universal lesson on compassion tenderly and with depth.
A child struggles to resolve a family disagreement during the Jewish new year.
“My sister sulks beside me. Last night we had a fight. I’m not sure…how to make things right,” the young, light-skinned narrator notes as the synagogue community gathers for prayers during Rosh Hashanah. The protagonist reckons with conflicted feelings as the congregation casts bread onto the water as part of the Jewish ceremony of Tashlich. The child murmurs apologies and slowly releases the painful memories along with the breadcrumbs. The argument is resolved, forgiveness is found, and the siblings promise to do better next year. Gardyn Levington’s rhyming couplets skillfully capture the narrator’s emotional journey, while Mayo’s deftly illustrated, light-filled spreads and pastel colors convey the joy of the holiday. The artist offers a refreshingly diverse depiction of the Jewish experience; the congregation includes people of color, as well as a female-presenting rabbi wearing a prayer shawl and kippah. Though the characters have come together to observe Rosh Hashanah, readers may want to share this book on Yom Kippur as well, due to the focus on atonement during the Days of Awe. The story makes an excellent addition to the very small handful of children’s books on Tashlich and the themes of Yom Kippur. A glossary and a guide to making meaningful apologies are included.
Conveys a universal lesson on compassion tenderly and with depth. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9780374392024
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
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