A poetic explanation of an old saying, with an emphasis on reducing self-criticism.
The old adage of making lemons into lemonade gets sweetened by friendship in Pax’s picture book.
Hartford the hedgehog thinks he doesn’t have much to offer new friends. He’s missing spines, and he thinks this makes him look funny. But when he meets Scuttle, a seal who can’t swim, Hartford immediately offers to help, and Scuttle’s own embarrassment fades in the presence of a new friend. The pair meets up with a nearsighted penguin, Porridge, and a short-spotted cheetah named Chili. All of them realize how precious it is to find people who “did not see flaws, just the good in each other.” Together, the group visits Miss Mary’s Make Your Own Lemonade shop to literally turn lemons into lemonade together. Pax’s rhyming couplets scan well, with some fun vocabulary and turns of phrase that never obscure the story’s meaning: Most of our friends see their own flaws the most clearly and are likely to forgive the flaws in others. Illustrator Saavi K places the insecure cartoon creatures in a town that looks almost like a quaint Hollywood set, with studio flat fronts; their artificiality reinforces the idea that it’s not appearance that matters. While most of the animals eschew clothing, the doctor (who may be a bear or an otter) is fully dressed.
A poetic explanation of an old saying, with an emphasis on reducing self-criticism.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 42
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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Sure to have little ones giggling.
Jacques is a hedgehog with a big secret: “I wear real, bona fide underwear.”
Our narrator received a mysterious package one day; an illustration shows a pair of underwear tied to a balloon with a note “from the Universe” floating down into Jacques’ burrow. Hedgehogs don’t wear underwear, however. Will Jacques be shunned? Jacques worries but comes to a decision: “I have to wear them. When I do I feel special.” Determined, Jacques, who’s been invited to a party, makes a dramatic entrance, with undies in hand. Jacques’ declaration (“I WEAR UNDERWEAR”) is met with remarks of dismay, before another hedgehog opens up about similar fears and shows off a pair of cowboy boots. More hedgehogs introduce themselves with their own confessions. The story ends with Jacques unveiling a painting of the underwear in a gallery filled with hedgehogs wearing all sorts of attire. Though the book is simple in plot, characters, and setting, it wins in its balance of bathroom humor, dramatic storytelling, and celebrations of individual expression. French words are peppered throughout, adding to the fun without detracting from the story for those unfamiliar with the language. The cartoonish illustrations brim with fun; Valdez relies heavily on geometric shapes (triangle noses for the hedgehogs; huge circles for their eyes). Details such as speech bubbles and recurring turtle and snake characters contribute to the outlandish humor.
Sure to have little ones giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781250814388
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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