A book that encourages deeper relationships between dads and their kids.
Two dads team up to describe the fantastic feelings of fatherhood in this picture book.
Many fathers in the United States are deeply invested in improving their parenting skills. For those at any stage of this journey, this book by two law professor fathers is a must-read, since it accessibly challenges the assumptions, ingrained in the minds of many Americans, that the sole role of a father is to pursue a career and be the family disciplinarian. King and Duru, in illuminating poetry and prose, encourage dads to be emotionally available: to articulate love, affirm pain and fright and nervousness, and embrace the imperfection of fatherhood. These important messages, delivered in the format of a dad conversing with his child (“When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be a Daddy….Have I Ever Told You That?”), are enhanced by Cabuay’s illustrations, which are engaging, identifiable, and inclusive. The pain of a child who falls off a bike or the joy of seeing one’s father leaving school, rendered through dynamic and colorful artwork, will resonate with readers. The book is an excellent choice for storytime and an emotional conversation starter. QR codes offer an audiobook, further resources, and family activities (not reviewed).
A book that encourages deeper relationships between dads and their kids.Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9781963981094
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Fair Share Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 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: today
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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