Playful storytelling and art blend for a paean to the power of determination.
A penguin who—seemingly—met a bad end in Avery’s Frank’s Red Hat (2025) plans a daring escape.
Brave enough to steal a walrus’ tusk, Neville’s a born risk taker who earns the admiration of his friends. Shockingly, he’s engulfed by a killer whale one day. Trapped inside the creature’s mouth, Neville meets Reg the seal. Though the pair seem doomed to the digestive tract, Neville realizes a very important fact: “We are not eaten yet.” Despite Reg’s discouraging words, Neville persists—he checks each tooth to see if any are loose, and when he finds himself unable to reach the whale’s blowhole, he builds a tower out of furniture. Both Neville and Reg have compelling personalities, developed over just a few pages, with cautious Reg serving as a deft foil to daring Neville. Avery’s dramatic illustrations use color to great effect, with the penguins’ stark black-and-white world standing in sharp contrast with the vibrant depictions of the whale’s mouth, suffused by deep magenta. There’s plenty to giggle over, too, from the slyly funny narration to visual gags galore (for instance, Neville turning the whale’s mouth into a cozy home complete with rocking chair, lamp, and rug). Neville’s and Reg’s large, expressive eyes telegraph their every thought. Fans of Avery’s earlier book will be delighted to see Neville back and more resolute than ever, his tenacity a model for times when it’s imperative to persist.
Playful storytelling and art blend for a paean to the power of determination. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 4, 2026
ISBN: 9781761602542
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wild and wacky.
A picture book from the comedy duo known as Rhett & Link, creators of the online juggernaut Good Mythical Morning.
Lumo is obsessed with chicken fingers; Saffy, who is new to town and anxious about starting school, finds comfort in the only food she likes: buttered spaghetti. The night before the first day of school, a thunderstorm rages, and each kid makes a wish—“to have chicken fingers at school,” in Lumo’s case; Saffy wishes for “the first thing off the top of her head: buttered spaghetti.” File under “Be careful what you wish for.” Lumo’s and Saffy’s respective physical changes (chicken fingers for fingers, spaghetti for hair) make navigating school a challenge but bring them together in the cafeteria, where they enjoy some new foods—and their new friendship. The plotting could have been sharper: Why do the kids’ bodies suddenly return to normal? And couldn’t the authors have thought up a less old-hat story-ending punch line? Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Neal get by on their charm, and the plot sets up some funny visuals. Salcedo’s cartoony Photoshop art features well-chosen artifacts from a typical kid’s life and captures the mortification of not fitting in, which will be familiar even to readers who have never experienced breaded fingers or noodle hair. Lumo is brown-skinned and dark-haired; Saffy is pale-skinned with disheveled reddish-brown hair.
Wild and wacky. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9780063474154
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperPop/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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