by Sharon King-Chai ; illustrated by Sharon King-Chai ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2016
Sweet.
How can a ladybug who’s just a little different fit in?
Lucy is shunned by all the other ladybugs. “You can’t be one of us,” they cry. “You have no spots.” It’s true; Lucy’s orange wings are unspotted. She flies away, feeling sad and alone. Lucy encounters Fred Frog and envies his bright green spots. He generously shares one with her while reminding her that she’s beautiful. “You float so smoothly through the air!” Buoyed a bit, Lucy floats on, next meeting Carla Caterpillar, who rides a big tandem bicycle and has bright yellow spots. Lucy admires these, and Carla, like Fred, generously gives her one. Next comes Felicity Fish (who seems to function just fine out of the water), who gives Lucy a bright blue spot. And Bella Bird gives Lucy one of her dazzling white spots. With four beautiful new spots, Lucy at last feels like a real ladybug. But when she returns home, she realizes that all of the other ladybugs have black spots. She’s not like them at all. And the very next moment, Lucy decides that being different “was actually… / a good thing!” This epiphany is underscored by a big, bold, four-page fold-out surprise. Both King-Chai’s text and illustrations, seamlessly adapted from the app Lucy Ladybird (2014), are bright and uber-cute, easily carrying the valuable message.
Sweet. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-51005-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
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by Julia Donaldson ; illustrated by Sharon King-Chai
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by Sharon King-Chai ; illustrated by Sharon King-Chai ; developed by Iain-Clark ; Eye Fly High
by Tom Percival ; illustrated by Tom Percival ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2018
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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by Tom Percival ; illustrated by Tom Percival
by Tom Percival ; illustrated by Tom Percival
by Tom Percival ; illustrated by Tom Percival
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by Sam McBratney ; illustrated by Anita Jeram ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2020
Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back.
Little Nutbrown Hare ventures out into the wide world and comes back with a new companion in this sequel to Guess How Much I Love You (1994).
Big Nutbrown Hare is too busy, so after asking permission, Little Nutbrown Hare scampers off over the rolling meadow to play by himself. After discovering that neither his shadow nor his reflection make satisfactory playmates (“You’re only another me!”), Little Nutbrown comes to Cloudy Mountain…and meets “Someone real!” It’s a white bunny who introduces herself as Tipps. But a wonderful round of digging and building and chasing about reaches an unexpected end with a game of hide-and-seek, because both hares hide! After waiting a long time to be found, Little Nutbrown Hare hops on home in disappointment, wondering whether he’ll ever see Tipps again. As it turns out, it doesn’t take long to find out, since she has followed him. “Now, where on earth did she come from?” wonders Big Nutbrown. “Her name is Tipps,” Little Nutbrown proudly replies, “and she’s my friend.” Jeram’s spacious, pale-toned, naturalistic outdoor scenes create a properly idyllic setting for this cozy development in a tender child-caregiver relationship—which hasn’t lost a bit of its appealing intimacy in the more than 25 years since its first appearance. As in the first, Big Nutbrown Hare is ungendered, facilitating pleasingly flexible readings.
Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1747-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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by Sam McBratney ; illustrated by Linda Ólafsdóttir
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