An affirming story that highlights the impact secondary caregivers can make in children’s lives.
An uncle’s small but powerful actions make a boy feel celebrated and secure.
At the store, Toby picks out gifts for his dad and his uncle. Though Toby can’t wait to give out his presents, Dad barely looks up from his phone (“Oh, more socks”). Toby’s downcast (“He’s right…he has enough socks”), but Ma comforts him (“He’s not right”)—and her words linger with him: “If a person ain’t right, they won’t make you feel right.” This emphasis on intuition and feeling encourages Toby to give the other gift to his uncle, someone who always makes him feel good. His uncle, who owns El Tio Auto Repair, zooms Toby over to his personalized chair, giving him undivided, excited attention. Throughout, Martinez’s illustrations mirror the boy’s emotions: static when something “doesn’t feel right,” exuberant and full of motion when he soars. Maldonado’s story could be a useful teaching tool for children to reinforce trusting your intuition. Many will identify with Toby’s sadness as he notices broken glass and a playground under construction in his rundown neighborhood or his disappointment as Dad dismisses him. More directly, Maldonado shows adult readers ways to convey security and love to the children in their lives. He models specific strategies for making youngsters feel seen and valued. Toby and his family are brown-skinned; hints in the text suggest Latine heritage.
An affirming story that highlights the impact secondary caregivers can make in children’s lives. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9780593624968
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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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
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