Sweet, eye-catching, and witty: a gift to young readers.
A group of forest friends experience a series of miscommunications.
Zilbo the dog feels grouchy; his mood is clear from the look on his face and the squiggly little line of frustration above his head. His friend Bogo, a pink bear, is discomfited by Zilbo’s refusal to respond to Bogo’s greeting; Bogo in turn stalks about with a sour expression. When Bogo blows off Hula the horse, she’s left feeling upset, and the chain continues until Mara, a sweater-clad mouse, asks another friend if she’s OK, and they follow the thread of negative exchanges back to the original grouchy-pants. As it turns out, Zilbo was preoccupied with a lost shoe, but luckily the whole crew helps him find it! Readers of all ages will relate to how quickly a seemingly mean-spirited interaction can beget a negative response—and the animal community’s willingness to repair the rift collaboratively conveys the radically positive point that getting curious and staying kind will help everyone. This graphic novel is drawn in a minimalist, brightly colored hipster style, placing the emphasis on the story over the surroundings and illuminating the characters’ broad, relatable emotions. With a lively cast, colorful cartooning, and a lucidly laid out storyline, this deceptively simple book simultaneously encourages new readers with clear text, provides amusement, and has a deep emotional resonance: a rare feat.
Sweet, eye-catching, and witty: a gift to young readers. (Graphic early reader. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063460447
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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
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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