A heartwarming adventure story that looks beyond triumph to show how a solid work ethic and care define success.
In Sidiqi’s picture book, a child watches her father chase an extraordinary goal and learns that courage can include knowing when to stop.
The story opens with a young girl with light skin and dark hair observing her father training “to climb a big mountain called Denali.” He explains that he’ll spend three weeks with a team in Alaska, hauling food and gear across the Kahiltna Glacier. Including her in the experience, he draws his daughter into his preparation, doing push-ups with her on his back and running while pushing her in a stroller. The narrative also explores the father’s motivation of raising money for charity while also testing his own limits—he encourages his daughter to follow such ambitions, telling her she might try someday when she’s older. When the climb ends short of the summit, there’s no sadness; the emotional payoff isn’t about reaching the peak, but in the familial bond reinforced by the father’s thoughtful decision to choose safety. The sentences flow smoothly and convey emotional depth. Miller’s painted illustrations are warm and textured, though the frequent use of surrounding blank space can feel awkward, leaving text and image slightly disconnected rather than in rhythm. Still, the portrayal of a parent balancing ambition with care will surely resonate with readers and caregivers alike.
A heartwarming adventure story that looks beyond triumph to show how a solid work ethic and care define success.Pub Date: April 24, 2026
ISBN: 9798317827267
Page Count: 36
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
As insubstantial as hot air.
A diverse cast of children first makes a fleet of hot air balloons and then takes to the sky in them.
Lifestyle maven Gaines uses this activity as a platform to celebrate diversity in learning and working styles. Some people like to work together; others prefer a solo process. Some take pains to plan extensively; others know exactly what they want and jump right in. Some apply science; others demonstrate artistic prowess. But “see how beautiful it can be when / our differences share the same sky?” Double-page spreads leading up to this moment of liftoff are laid out such that rhyming abcb quatrains typically contain one or two opposing concepts: “Some of us are teachers / and share what we know. / But all of us are learners. / Together is how we grow!” In the accompanying illustration, a bespectacled, Asian-presenting child at a blackboard lectures the other children on “balloon safety.” Gaines’ text has the ring of sincerity, but the sentiment is hardly an original one, and her verse frequently sacrifices scansion for rhyme. Sometimes it abandons both: “We may not look / or work or think the same, / but we all have an / important part to play.” Swaney’s delicate, pastel-hued illustrations do little to expand on the text, but they are pretty. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.2-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70.7% of actual size.)
As insubstantial as hot air. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1423-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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