A dazzling and unapologetic portrait of a child unafraid to think differently.
Tami Charles and her son Christopher team up for a reflection on neurodivergence, rooted in Christopher’s own experiences.
“Some days it feels like my mind doesn’t work right,” a young Black boy confides. Parents and older relatives help the child draw out his talents. At home, his imagination runs wild; on the basketball court, he's a force to be reckoned with, and in the kitchen, his culinary skills are unmatched. He’s “curious / and / hilarious / and wondrously free.” But “out there,” in school and in front of others, he is misunderstood and judged for his forgetfulness, his talkativeness, and his tardiness—behaviors that don’t define him. With support from others and through techniques such as deep breathing, he overcomes his challenges and fears about the different way his mind works to let his brilliance show. Smith relies on energetic brushstrokes, sketchy lines, and varied palettes and compositions; his signature style is well suited to the subject matter, conveying the narrator’s feelings as he moves through chaos into comfort and calm. Dynamic layouts and thoughtful text design add a layer of engagement to the reading experience. Making compelling use of figurative language, the authors’ rhythmic, immersive verse evokes a youngster’s exuberance and playfulness. This thoughtful collaboration successfully conveys the struggles and joys of one youngster’s experience with neurodivergence while educating and captivating readers.
A dazzling and unapologetic portrait of a child unafraid to think differently. (author’s notes, illustrator’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781546116387
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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