A stunningly illustrated celebration of heritage that will require some adult guidance.
An unexpected museum trip changes the way a girl sees her past.
Tan-skinned, dark-haired Sakina’s plans for spending the morning at the seashore are dashed by a sandstorm. So she and her mother head to the museum, where the bored Sakina observes several statues: “chubby crocodiles filled with papers,” a “blue jaguar guarding the first set of laws ever written,” and “winged lions.” Back home, she realizes that a tiny crocodile, jaguar, and lion have stowed away in her bag. Sakina chases them through the house, only to stumble upon a picture of her grandmother that she’s never before taken the time to examine. The photograph is just the start of a series of reminders that “thousands and thousands of years” exist both within the magical artifacts and within Sakina. Rendered in a gold and pastel palette, the artwork is sumptuous. While the text is lyrical, at times it feels cryptic; Sakina’s discovery that there are poems written on Crocodile’s papers leads to a sudden appreciation of her heritage, though it’s not clear why. Marwan’s author’s note, which discusses the work of 19th-century archeologists and her own experiences visiting institutions such as the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, fills in some gaps, but adults may need to help young readers parse some of the story’s elements. Though it’s never stated where Sakina lives, the backmatter and the use of Arabic imply a Middle Eastern setting.
A stunningly illustrated celebration of heritage that will require some adult guidance. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781547613427
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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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