An engaging, beautifully illustrated tale of believing in yourself told from the perspective of a cactus.
An insecure cactus learns to love the spines that make her different in this picture book.
Libby, a cactus, lives on a windowsill in Abigail’s kitchen. Libby is jealous of the flowers in Abigail’s garden, with their soft leaves and colorful blossoms. When Abigail gets another kitchen plant, an African violet, Libby feels less confident than ever, especially after the newcomer’s unkind words. When Abigail’s cat, Prea, eats some of Violet’s blossoms, the plant is understandably upset. By the time Violet’s blossoms return, Libby has grown a lovely flower, too. And when Prea tries to take a bite of Libby’s bloom, her spines save the day—and Violet praises the cactus’s powerful defense feature. Veteran author Macaulay and debut children’s book writer Risk use a straightforward style, with British spellings (colourful) and vocabulary (parcel) that may give young American readers pause. The bright illustrations provide plenty of context for figuring out unfamiliar terms. The pronunciation for Lobivia Jajoiana (“Low-BIV-ee-uh Jah-joee-AHN-nuh”), Libby’s cactus species, is helpfully provided in the dialogue. Bagshaw’s highly textured digital art mixes realistic details—in the backgrounds and the depictions of Prea and Abigail, who appears to be White—with cartoonish faces on the plants. This technique effectively offers readers a connection to the protagonist (while never making the feline’s flower-eating too scary). The moral of valuing your differences—even when others initially judge you because of them—comes through clearly.
An engaging, beautifully illustrated tale of believing in yourself told from the perspective of a cactus.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-987976-74-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Mirror World Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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