A simple, straightforward overview of a first dentist visit for religious readers that’s hampered by slightly confusing...
A girl’s love of candy turns into a big problem in Lewis’ picture-book series installment.
Coco has just started her first day of kindergarten, but it doesn’t take long for her to get into trouble. She finds a bag of candy left behind in the cafeteria and takes it home; later, at her grandmother’s house, she steals more candy from a jar on the living room table. As weeks pass and Coco eats her contraband, her teeth start to ache, and her parents suspect that she has a cavity. “It looks like Dad and I need to take you to the dentist,” her mom explains. Coco is nervous: She must apologize for taking the candy and also confront her fear of going to the dentist. In this follow-up to Coco Braves the Dark (2023), Lewis has Coco call on her religious faith to see her through her trials. The story is quick, blunt, and to the point; it sticks to its lesson without any secondary plot details or characterization. Betzy and Lola’s illustrations are bright and colorful, depicting Coco, her family, and their dentist as people of color; other characters have a range of skin tones. Oddly, two illustrations are repeated on consecutive pages without a clear reason.
A simple, straightforward overview of a first dentist visit for religious readers that’s hampered by slightly confusing execution.Pub Date: April 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781667892337
Page Count: 27
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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BOOK REVIEW
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