A fable full of ancient wisdom, applicable to today’s world.
This picture-book adaptation of a tale by Wagamese sees an unassuming rabbit enter a leadership contest.
The story of Waabooz is a story in the author’s unfinished manuscript One Drum: Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet (published posthumously in 2019). When the Animal People of the Long Ago Time gather to determine who will be in charge, it’s the brash, boastful Horse, Buffalo, Cougar, and Wolverine who put themselves forth. They compete in an endurance race—four times around a lake through challenging terrain. Waabooz, a rabbit, also competes (notably the only female competitor), proceeding slowly and appreciating her surroundings, rather than trying to conquer them. Although the others pass her by, she gleans much wisdom and assists the others when their approach falters. Wagamese writes in straightforward but compelling prose that has the hypnotic style of oral storytelling: “all members of the animal kingdom were there: birds, reptiles, insects and all of the four-leggeds.” The book’s text-heavy quality may prove too daunting for younger readers. However, the images afford the narrative a timeless quality and a weightiness beyond words. George offers lush, dreamy, autumnal-hued artwork steeped in the artistic traditions of First Nations peoples. The animals are rendered semitransparent to reveal anatomical lines, which are themselves styled to evoke astrological constellations.
A fable full of ancient wisdom, applicable to today’s world.Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781771624183
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.
Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780063460775
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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