A playful and timely tale that teaches kids how to spot fearmongering and follow evidence.
In Gamarra’s illustrated children’s book, government-driven fear spreads faster than facts, but one child is determined to find the truth.
The town of Rumorridge is rife with rumors of a monster called the Jibberjack. However, Frida Fitzgerald, an aspiring “Truth Detective,” grows suspicious when the mayor, Theodore Tazzleworm, declares the monster real and says that everyone must stay indoors after dark, build traps, and clap extra loudly at town meetings (he “loves applause”). When two pigs, Carl and Carla, go missing, the fear campaign escalates. Armed with a notebook, Frida begins documenting clues and testing theories: “She had an idea to solve the monster mystery. But to be sure, she needed to set a trap.” The book doubles as a sharp lesson on misinformation, teaching children to question authority, examine evidence, and think critically. Gamarra’s narrative encourages active engagement, showing the advantages of careful observation and rational inquiry. Pilosio’s illustrations complement the story fantastically: Adults appear angular and performative, while Frida, with an adorable short black bob and bangs, is expressive and determined. Small visual details, such as a “No Monsters” protest sign, cleverly shape the book’s message. Back-matter discussion prompts and a “Become a Truth Detective” checklist offer practical and engaging guidance for children and caregivers.
A playful and timely tale that teaches kids how to spot fearmongering and follow evidence.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2025
ISBN: 9798998866517
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Wild and wacky.
A picture book from the comedy duo known as Rhett & Link, creators of the online juggernaut Good Mythical Morning.
Lumo is obsessed with chicken fingers; Saffy, who is new to town and anxious about starting school, finds comfort in the only food she likes: buttered spaghetti. The night before the first day of school, a thunderstorm rages, and each kid makes a wish—“to have chicken fingers at school,” in Lumo’s case; Saffy wishes for “the first thing off the top of her head: buttered spaghetti.” File under “Be careful what you wish for.” Lumo’s and Saffy’s respective physical changes (chicken fingers for fingers, spaghetti for hair) make navigating school a challenge but bring them together in the cafeteria, where they enjoy some new foods—and their new friendship. The plotting could have been sharper: Why do the kids’ bodies suddenly return to normal? And couldn’t the authors have thought up a less old-hat story-ending punch line? Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Neal get by on their charm, and the plot sets up some funny visuals. Salcedo’s cartoony Photoshop art features well-chosen artifacts from a typical kid’s life and captures the mortification of not fitting in, which will be familiar even to readers who have never experienced breaded fingers or noodle hair. Lumo is brown-skinned and dark-haired; Saffy is pale-skinned with disheveled reddish-brown hair.
Wild and wacky. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9780063474154
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperPop/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 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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