A highly enjoyable read-aloud about finding creative ways to be flexible.
In Keres’ picture book, Finn the Frog loves cleanliness, but he learns there are benefits to getting a little messy.
Finn is not like other frogs: He likes the book that he lives in, the very one that the reader is holding, to be picture perfect. He’s happy to share his home with his readers, but when someone with messy hands comes along, Finn does not stay calm for long. First are the orange cheesy puff fingerprints marking the pages that serve as the walls of his home; then grape juice sticks and drips along his home’s corners. It isn’t until the gum comes out that Finn begins to really panic. What’s a frog to do when a fly invades his home? It’s up to the reader to help Finn find better solutions on how to keep things clean. Keres’ entertaining story gives the reader a role in Finn’s life, staging the interaction as a potentially hilarious dialogue between reader and main character. Finn will even mention when to turn the page, giving the book a metanarrative quality. His aversion to messiness is funny, and the conclusion cleverly reveals why a frog is the star of this story instead of any other animal. Lin’s illustrations are colorful and perfectly represent Finn’s roller-coaster emotions. Like the text (“Wipe your hands and put that snack away RIGHT NOW!!”), the pictures interact with the reader, such as when a child’s hand appears to stand in for the reader’s hand on Page 21. This fun adventure story would make for a great read-aloud, just like its literary cousin Open Very Carefully: A Book With Bite! by Nick Bromley (2013).
A highly enjoyable read-aloud about finding creative ways to be flexible.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2022
ISBN: 9798985911268
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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