UNCLE PETE AND THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT BEAT

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UNCLE PETE AND THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT BEAT

Name: UNCLE PETE AND THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT BEAT
Author: Vincent Schoofs

by Vincent Schoofs ; illustrated by Brandon Le & Nguyen Phan ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A uniquely musical take on coping with the grief of losing a parent.

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Two children turn to their visiting uncle, a red panda, to help them cope with the grief of losing their mother in this rhythmic picture book.

Elvira and Alexandra, based on Belgian author Schoofs’ daughters, are grieving their Chinese mother’s death. Uncle Pete, a musician, comes “to magic some smiles on to our faces” with plans to lay a track to the perfect beat. Uncle Pete, with his bushy tail sticking out from his shirt, starts his visit with food and fun. At a visit to the temple, he reminds the girls no matter where they go, they are never separate from their mother’s love. The sisters help Uncle Pete make music, but it’s still not quite right. Later, after a colorful, musical dream in which the girls’ mother promises to be with them always, Uncle Pete gathers the family for a hug, where they all realize their heartbeats, joined in love, are the perfect beat. Schoofs’ rhyming stanzas have uniquely syncopated rhythms, which can make the scansion challenging. The vocabulary includes words in Chinese (some in untranslated Chinese characters) and strange phrases, like “flaneur about town,” which may require explanation. The Chinese elements enhance the reading experience, and they reflect Elvira and Alexandra’s heritage. Le and Phan’s bright digital illustrations, especially in the dream sequence, emphasize the way that joy can help to combat grief, with the message that enjoying life doesn’t lessen love for the person who is lost.

A uniquely musical take on coping with the grief of losing a parent.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Manuscript

Review Posted Online: March 18, 2021

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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HANSEL AND GRETEL

by Stephen King ; illustrated by Maurice Sendak ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2, 2025

Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.

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Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre.

In King’s interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch’s plot to gobble them up before finding their “happily ever after” alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak’s instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators’ knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story’s foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children’s peril. Branches with “clutching fingers” hide “the awful enchanted house” of a “child-stealing witch,” all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh (“idiot,” “fool”), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers’ patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults—particularly those familiar with King and Sendak—but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art.

Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025

ISBN: 9780062644695

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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)