An out-of-this-world adventure for kids who love the planet’s most popular sport.
Soccer-loving twins get a lesson in sportsmanship when they enter a fantastical land devoted to the beautiful game.
For the first time, siblings Pete and Zoe will also be teammates! In their season opener, the pair play brilliantly, earning a celebratory trip to the sports superstore Soccer World. While there, they bicker over a cool-looking ball that they both want. Chasing it into a storeroom, they discover a portal to a parallel universe also called Soccer World. Surrounded by incredible soccer players, Pete and Zoe continue arguing instead of appreciating the unique opportunity. Their poor sportsmanship costs them spots on the All-Star Team and earns them a reprimand from Ref Jeff. Contrite, they begin taking steps to change their behavior. At the Championship Game, two All-Star Team players are injured in a collision; they’re led off the field as the members of the rival team, the Slide Tackling Jackals, point and jeer. Ref Jeff gives the twins a chance at redemption by putting them into the game. Colorful, comic book–style illustrations heighten the action. The upbeat, punchy writing keeps the story moving while underscoring the importance of playing with fairness and courtesy. One quibble: Older readers may question how the rude rival team passed through the stadium’s “Sportsmanship Indicator 2000” scanner, which filters out bad sports. Main characters present white; the ensemble cast is diverse.
An out-of-this-world adventure for kids who love the planet’s most popular sport. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781536235845
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 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
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
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