A visual, day-in-the-life adventure that can be used to stimulate literacy-rich conversations with children.
Superheroes can come in all shapes and sizes.
In this Canadian import, Saya, a toddler with big dark eyes and dark hair, is heading to the park with her dad on a sunny day. Pushed along the sidewalk in her stroller, she sees two cats squabbling and flings her stuffed bunny, Kunoichi (a Japanese word meaning female ninja), toward them, dissolving the feline conflict. Readers soon see that Saya and Kunoichi are a covert superhero team. Over the course of the day’s outing, they stop another toddler’s stroller from rolling away on the bumpy bus ride, rescue a duckling who’s fallen through a sewer grate, and deflect a baseball before it hits a White child at the playground. Dad, utterly unaware of the heroics transpiring right under his nose, patiently retrieves the plush toy time and time again en route to the story’s sweet ending. Children will appreciate the compelling graphic format of this wordless picture book. The illustrations are rendered in a muted palette, and inset panels and splash pages are used to good effect, adding drama and focusing the reader’s attention on Saya’s and Dad’s emotional responses. The story will resonate with young readers who believe their stuffies, too, can save the world. The main characters present as Japanese Canadian. Background characters are diverse and include a woman wearing a hijab.
A visual, day-in-the-life adventure that can be used to stimulate literacy-rich conversations with children. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2780-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A powerful affirmation for all dads—the good, the flawed, and those doing the best they can.
Dedicating his latest to “caregivers who give what they never got,” Caldecott Honor winner Robinson explores complicated feelings around fatherhood.
From the outset, the book appears to be a standard-issue Father’s Day offering, pairing brief, loving sentiments with images of animals. But it soon becomes clear that Robinson has crafted something much more complex. A frog with tadpoles nestled atop his back (“Dad is here”) is followed by an illustration of an owl leaving the nest (“Dad had to go away”). More contrasts are presented: a seahorse keeping his offspring safe in his pouch (“Dad holds on tight”), two shark pups swimming away from their frenzied-looking patriarch (“Dad need lots of space”). “Dad lets you down and makes mistakes” (a porcupine accidentally jabs his little one), but “Dad picks you up and makes you feel safe” (a lion snuggles his cub). And the human fathers we meet next—diverse in skin tone and ability—are equally multifaceted. Robinson outdoes himself, his bold and richly textured paint and collage artwork popping against the background. His artwork is rife with subtleties for careful readers—for instance, the look of uncertainty in the eyes of the gorilla father described as “strong.” For all its simplicity, this colorful book is laden with meaning, depicting fathers as vulnerable, imperfect, gentle, and empathetic—in a word, deeply human.
A powerful affirmation for all dads—the good, the flawed, and those doing the best they can. (more information on the animals presented) (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9781250397041
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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