A well-illustrated fantasy tale about following one’s dreams.
In Leya and Saylor’s illustrated children’s book, a young tinkerer helps out the Tooth Fairy.
As a boy named Gabriel gets ready for bed, he counts the stars. While falling asleep, he likes to think about traveling to outer space and working in his makerspace—a workspace where he builds rockets. Building and tinkering is what Gabriel enjoys most in the world, and his teacher, Ms. Birnbry, encourages him to use his “unique mind”to explore new corners of the galaxy. When he loses a baby tooth, his mom reminds him to put it under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Later, Gabriel is suddenly woken by the sound of a sputtering engine: The Tooth Fairy has arrived, and her tiny jetpack is having engine trouble. Enchanted by Gabriel’s bedroom makerspace, she asks for his help with repairs. He’s easily able to fix the fairy’s jetpack and is rewarded for his kindness when the Tooth Fairy shrinks him down to her small size, and they fly to Tooth Fairy Land where there’s a parade every day and a massive orchard of coins in the center of town. Gabriel learns that lost teeth become the stars in Tooth Fairy Land’s sky. He returns home and later awakens to find a note from the Tooth Fairy and some gold coins. Leya and Saylor present a story that effectively encourages readers to follow their passions and help others; the protagonist’s mother and new Tooth Fairy friend both support his skills and dreams; the latter, in a letter, tells him, “May you always shine brightly and continue to dream big.” Sulima’s full-color illustrations are drawn very realistically, and the character images have an angelic quality, reminiscent of Precious Moments figurines. The backgrounds on each page are comprehensive and detailed and will pull readers into the story with their nighttime color palettes of muted greens and blues with occasional orange and purple.
A well-illustrated fantasy tale about following one’s dreams.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9798986947396
Page Count: 28
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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