A short, sweet tale that may inspire other children to imagine achieving their goals.
A young girl discovers her inner voice in an unusual way in Loveman’s picture book.
Livy Lou Lovely “used to / be timid and meek.” A few years ago, she was so shy that she clung to her mother’s leg in public and choked up while trying to present her favorite stuffed animal at show and tell. Now, Livy Lou and her mother attend a live taping of a television show, where the girl spots a young woman on set wearing a headset and carrying a clipboard. This important-looking job captures Livy Lou’s attention and gives her the courage to envision herself in a similar role. From then on, Livy Lou acts as her own “best hype girl,” telling herself that her voice could have the power to change people’s lives—including her own. Bassani’s energetic cartoon illustrations encapsulate Livy Lou’s ever-growing ambitions in images that employ thin lines and bold colors. The story is told in verse, but the rhythm is uneven and occasionally jolting due to varying rhyme schemes. Still, Loveman has crafted an inspirational story that shines with enthusiasm. The girl’s earnest visions of her future may cause readers to optimistically imagine their own possibilities by following three rules: “Use your heart, be / yourself, and make / people’s day.”
A short, sweet tale that may inspire other children to imagine achieving their goals.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9798891384958
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Mascot Kids
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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
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