A satisfying choice for picky readers.
Lunch dates get a little sweeter when two friends bring the art of compromise to their menus.
Kat (a blue feline) and Mouse (a darker blue rodent) are getting together for lunch. Kat has packed “the most delicious sandwich! It has BACON, LETTUCE, and TOMATO.” Kat dubs this feast “the BLT.” Mouse has brought a delectable meal, too. “Only the BEST food there is! CHEESE!” Over the next few days, the pair again meet to share mealtimes. Kat totes increasingly elaborate picnic setups and sandwiches, while Mouse packs a modest, star-speckled lunchbox of flavorful cheeses. Sensitive to Kat’s perception of this apparent monotony, Mouse worries: “Maybe I’m boring.” After a trial lunch apart proves “AWFUL” for Kat and makes Mouse’s blue cheese taste “bluer than usual,” the pair agree that their happy mix of habits makes for a healthy friendship. Brightly colored digital art with thick outlines frames the gentle-faced, cartoonish characters on visually clean backgrounds in a variety of page layouts; some pages are divided into graphic novel–esque panels. Beginning readers will find the minimal text helpful; it appears in a bold font within clearly attributed and color-coded speech bubbles (pink for Kat, green for Mouse). This cheery series starter shares the tender social-emotional lessons of similar titles starring animal pals, like Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series or Ben Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly tales.
A satisfying choice for picky readers. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781547612420
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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