Don’t skip this lively, feel-good story.
Admiral William H. McRaven’s adaption of his bestselling adult title The Hero Code (2021) with his daughter, Kelly Marie McRaven.
Wearing a military uniform and having “completed his training,” Skipper’s assigned a mission by the president (a bald eagle clad in suit and tie): “to find the greatest heroes of all.” Heading back to base, Skipper encounters his cat friend bravely defending a frog against a bullying shark. Here’s Skipper’s first hero! As the day proceeds, he finds more heroes, including the Giving Gorilla, a firefighter; the Caring Cow, a doctor; and the Persevering Penguin, who serves food at a homeless shelter. All offer solid words of wisdom, but Skipper needs one more hero: the little frog who was bullied by the shark. The Forgiving Frog accepts the shark’s apology, and Skipper the Seal declares, “There’s no greater hero than those who forgive.” The team members work together to rescue passengers from a sinking ship. Skipper introduces them to the president, who awards each a medal. Skipper leaves readers with a few final words: “Be a hero in all that you do!” Written in serviceable verse, this upbeat, slightly didactic story featuring a personable protagonist should encourage children to be heroic any way they can; the numerous examples—from the Funny Fox, who helps out by making his friends laugh, to the Humble Horse, a hockey player who knows the value of cooperating—prove that heroism isn’t about size or strength. The rousing, cartoony digital illustrations are appealing.
Don’t skip this lively, feel-good story. (author’s note from Kelly Marie McRaven) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780316576406
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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