A congenial introduction to clouds and self-care.
A puffy cloud navigates the emotional landscape of friendship.
Nimbus, a pinkish-yellow, personified cloud with facial features, hair draped across one eye, and arms and hands, enjoys solitary play: drawing with lightning bolts, playing “peekaboo with the sun,” and gleefully showering raindrops onto the Earth. When the extroverted Cumulus wants to play a guessing game, Nimbus becomes overwhelmed and flees. That approach-and-retreat pattern repeats with two other clouds whose overtures of friendship are initially unwelcome; Cirrus mistakes Nimbus’ bolt for a tail, and Stratus is eager to play hide-and-seek. Relying on watercolor, colored pencil, crayon, and tissue paper, Tanaka has created softly textured, expressive scenes in keeping with the subject and conveying each character’s emotional state. The dialogue mirrors each cloud’s personality; the boisterous Cumulus speaks in all caps, while the sweeping Cirrus uses “looooooong,” drawn-out words. Nimbus eventually starts seeing things from different perspectives, noticing what their new acquaintances would appreciate. (Most of the clouds use they/them pronouns.) Retracing their steps, Nimbus invites each cloud to play after explaining their needs: “Want to quietly guess what this puddle looks like?” While several aspects of the story will have general appeal—such as finding animals in cloud formations—introverted or neurodivergent readers will especially appreciate Nimbus’ transformation, their reflective moments, and the language they use to express their needs.
A congenial introduction to clouds and self-care. (cloud chart) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781250909602
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
