A well-wrought lesson in patience and perseverance.
A rescue dog fears abandonment in Roberts’ picture book.
Amica, a little girl in overalls with brown skin and curly dark brown pigtails, is having a hard time with her new dog, Zoe. Zoe won’t go for walks like other dogs: “Mom says it’s because Zoe was left behind and thinks I’ll do the same.” Amica is determined, but Zoe is getting bigger and harder to carry home when she refuses to walk. Amica notices her neighbor, Mr. Jones, is throwing out a red wagon, and asks if she can have it. Amica works on the wagon, scrubbing, painting, and oiling to turn it into a “beautiful carriage” for Zoe to ride home in when she becomes fearful and won’t walk. Each day, Amica and Zoe go a little farther, until Zoe learns that no matter how far they go, they’ll always end up back at home together. Hale’s colorful illustrations blend traditional pencil and watercolor drawings with cartoon characters. At times, the imagery reveals elements of the story before they are explicated in the prose, creating beautiful transitions that invite the reader to actively engage with the imagery. The prose is lively and expressive of Amica’s frustration and dedication and Zoe’s timid nature. Some of the story is conveyed through dialogue, which is always natural, and the action is thoughtfully paced. An afterword offers practical tips for caring for rescue animals.
A well-wrought lesson in patience and perseverance.Pub Date: April 17, 2025
ISBN: 9781966675099
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Solander Press
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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: Aug. 11, 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
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