Lively and sweet, this undisguised friendship tale is offbeat enough to stand out in a crowd. Baking dog biscuits one afternoon, Olive hears her friend Dexter outside singing “all of my love . . . to you,” giving fans of Olive, the Other Reindeer (1997) a fresh Olive pun to enjoy. A loud thump, and Olive finds an enormous red heart on her doorstep. She packs biscuits and sets off to return what she assumes was dropped by mistake. Several friends and adventures later, she reaches Dexter and finds out—of course—that the gift of his heart was intentional, and that there are bonbons inside. In tertiary colors, Seibold’s Adobe Illustrator shapes mimic cut-outs and play with scale, perspective, and selective shading. A plot that could easily have been corny, instead flourishes with Walsh’s direct, matter-of-fact tone and Seibold’s shiny energy. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-15-204720-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2004
A delightfully silly celebration of familial love.
A child in search of the best hugger takes a bedtime tour of the world’s most unusual embraces.
In the opening pages of this rhyming picture book, an unnamed narrator asks a curly-haired, tan-skinned child who they think gives the best hugs. At the narrator’s behest, the protagonist spends their bedtime routine receiving affection from a wacky cast of creatures, ranging from meerkats to porcupines to narwhals. These animals have a variety of body types, but even those with a lack of limbs still express their love; the seahorse, for example, gives the child a “smooch” right before bathtime, and a grinning cobra offers the child a “clinch,” wrapping itself around their leg. Although many of the animals prove to be more prickly than cozy—the narrator points out, for example, the sharpness of bird beaks and porcupine quills—even the snuggliest koalas and bears cannot compare to the best hug of all: a parent’s embrace right before bedtime. The use of second-person address combined with the protagonist’s beautifully illustrated facial expressions and the buoyant, clever lines of verse render this book a hilarious and whimsical ride sure to delight both children and the adults who read to them. The pictures and text work together to create a clear narrative arc for the protagonist, and though the ending is a bit predictable, it’s nevertheless a wonderful payoff. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightfully silly celebration of familial love. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5476-1236-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
Politely contrarian and utterly charming.
A nonconformist polar bear navigates classroom dynamics on his own terms.
“Everyone says NO sometimes. Bartleby says, ‘I prefer not to.’ He says it a lot.” Dressed nattily in his red bowler hat, tie, and overalls, Bartleby sets himself apart from his peers, distancing himself physically and opting out of group activities. “For free play, everyone chooses a toy. ‘I prefer not to,’” says Bartleby, sitting alone. Circle time, music class, recess? He’d prefer not to. I prefer not to is quite different than saying no, and Bartleby’s refrain of passive resistance has a particular effect on his perplexed-looking classmates. When their teacher, Ms. Melville (natch), invites the students to create self-portraits at art time, bystander Bartleby finds a creative way to participate on his own terms, in his own time. Secondary characters—all anthropomorphic animals—and scenery in gently expressive ink brush lines with muted watercolor tones starkly contrast with knobby-eared Bartleby’s eccentric scarlet attire and crisp white fur, further emphasizing the youngster’s singularity. In this ever-so-slightly philosophical addition to the canon of you-do-you picture books, the pragmatic text and diminutive trim size further bolster a civilly dissenting message. Brace yourselves, grown-ups: Bartleby’s refrain, taken straight from Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” seems destined to enter vernacular among young readers, whether you’d prefer that or not.
Politely contrarian and utterly charming. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780374393557
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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