A whimsical ocean adventure that emphasizes friendship and features vibrant images.
A small friend makes a big difference in this illustrated children’s book.
Barry, an Australian saltwater crocodile, has a toothache and doesn’t know what to do. When a pal, Egyptian plover bird Cleo, offers to help, Barry shrugs her off. How could this little creature solve such a huge problem? Instead, Barry seeks out larger ocean animals for advice. First, he encounters an octopus, who only has tips about tentacles. After the octopus leaves him in an ink cloud, Barry pursues his next adviser, a sperm whale, Earth’s loudest creature. When this animal can’t help, Barry asks a speedy sailfish, a fierce great white shark, and an enormous blue whale. None of them know what to do, but the blue whale suggests consulting an orca, the smartest creature in the ocean. The orca’s solution is easy: “You don’t need the fastest, the biggest, the loudest, the fiercest or even the smartest friend to help you. You only need the kindest friend.” Unsure what to do with this counsel, Barry swims home, where Cleo is still waiting to assist him. In one quick swoop, she plucks out the offending food from where it’s causing Barry pain, saving her friend. Kurien uses the best animals in their categories to emphasize the contrast between those mighty creatures and little Cleo. While there’s a lot of text, the easy-to-read font and the large, frequently two-page spread pictures move readers smoothly from scene to scene. Some unfamiliar words (slithered, conical, gaping) are likely to push emergent readers to expand their vocabularies. Paj’s digitally painted illustrations provide details to help young readers decipher the clues, and the Disney-esque character designs have plenty of kid appeal. The soft edges work especially well in the underwater environments, and Paj employs dynamic techniques to imply movement. Cleo’s wings are especially vivid, depicted as a blur when she’s flying next to her friend. While the relationship between plovers and crocodiles is well known, budding naturalists may wonder if an Egyptian bird would help an Australian reptile.
A whimsical ocean adventure that emphasizes friendship and features vibrant images.Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2023
ISBN: 9780645869705
Page Count: 31
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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