A classic ballet story infused with themes of body positivity and the importance of seeing oneself reflected in art.
A bear hopes to become prima ballerina.
Rita has always loved ballet. The young bear joins the intimidating Monsieur le Fox’s ballet class and meets a new friend, Wanda; they spend their days dreaming about a life in dance. When Monsieur le Fox announces his plan to host auditions for the class’s prima ballerina spot, Rita and Wanda practice dancing and read ballet magazines to prepare. Looking at the ballerinas in the magazines, as well as those in the posters on the walls, Rita comes to a realization: “These ballerinas don’t look anything like me!” Indeed, they are all lithe creatures like weasels, foxes, frogs, and rabbits. The simple story’s resolution relies on Wanda and Monsieur le Fox encouraging Rita rather than Rita independently coming to embrace “my beautiful, big-bear body.” For this reason, caregivers and educators may consider pairing this tale with Vashti Harrison’s Big (2023), which shares similar themes but features the protagonist as her own savior. The full-color illustrations are soft and inviting, with the bulk of the story taking place in a cozy forest rife with mushrooms, coniferous trees, and logs on which the ballerinas practice balancing. The endpapers show Rita in a variety of ballet poses, perhaps encouraging future dancers to begin their practice.
A classic ballet story infused with themes of body positivity and the importance of seeing oneself reflected in art. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781664300767
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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