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LITTLE HELPER

Name: LITTLE HELPER
Author: Regina Linke
ISBN: 9780316531252

by Regina Linke ; illustrated by Regina Linke ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2026

A stunning reminder that helping others reaps joyful rewards.

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Author/illustrator Linke digitally re-creates traditional Chinese gongbi and xieyi techniques for this breathtaking story about a young boy who’s quick to lend a helping hand.

Though Ah-Fu may be small, he has a big imagination and a strong sense of confidence. As the book opens, he tells a friendly magpie of his plans “to fly my kite, go for a ride in Grandfather’s oxcart, [and] have a picnic” on this beautiful day. Alas, his kite gets stuck in the branches, and the ox wryly remarks, “Maybe it’s not such a perfect day after all.” When Ah-Fu seeks assistance, however, everyone is too busy, which only makes the child more eager to help out. Cousin Li-Na must prepare sticky rice for the market, Grandfather must run his errands on foot instead of with the oxcart because of a tree blocking the roads, and friend Bo-Lin must return home for his breakfast before he can remove the fallen tree. Struck by inspiration, Ah-Fu shares Li-Na’s sticky rice with Bo-Lin, who quickly clears the road, allowing Grandfather to make Li-Na’s delivery. And Ah-Fu finally gets his perfect day after all. Linke’s thoughtful narrative cleverly reveals the interconnectedness of the villagers’ lives. Her meticulously detailed art—an enhanced realism in gorgeously soft, full color—is a splendiferous delight. Landscapes and characters’ clothing and features suggest a rural Chinese setting.

A stunning reminder that helping others reaps joyful rewards. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 5, 2026

ISBN: 9780316531252

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
BIG ENOUGH
by Regina Linke ; illustrated by Regina Linke

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SPAGHETTI HEAD & CHICKEN FINGERS

by Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal ; illustrated by Erica Salcedo ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2026

Wild and wacky.

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A picture book from the comedy duo known as Rhett & Link, creators of the online juggernaut Good Mythical Morning.

Lumo is obsessed with chicken fingers; Saffy, who is new to town and anxious about starting school, finds comfort in the only food she likes: buttered spaghetti. The night before the first day of school, a thunderstorm rages, and each kid makes a wish—“to have chicken fingers at school,” in Lumo’s case; Saffy wishes for “the first thing off the top of her head: buttered spaghetti.” File under “Be careful what you wish for.” Lumo’s and Saffy’s respective physical changes (chicken fingers for fingers, spaghetti for hair) make navigating school a challenge but bring them together in the cafeteria, where they enjoy some new foods—and their new friendship. The plotting could have been sharper: Why do the kids’ bodies suddenly return to normal? And couldn’t the authors have thought up a less old-hat story-ending punch line? Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Neal get by on their charm, and the plot sets up some funny visuals. Salcedo’s cartoony Photoshop art features well-chosen artifacts from a typical kid’s life and captures the mortification of not fitting in, which will be familiar even to readers who have never experienced breaded fingers or noodle hair. Lumo is brown-skinned and dark-haired; Saffy is pale-skinned with disheveled reddish-brown hair.

Wild and wacky. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 16, 2026

ISBN: 9780063474154

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HarperPop/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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)