Next book

TIGER WILD

Ablaze with humor, insight, and love.

Lily blames her wild and willful behavior on her imaginary tiger, but she learns there’s a time for wild and a time for quiet.

Big-eyed and seemingly innocent, Lily sits amid a kid-crafting disaster zone. As paint oozes down the side of the couch (which barely hides a hulking orange-and-black striped mass with ears and a tail), Lily declares Tiger the culprit. The “two” continue to wreak havoc wherever they go until Lily, unabashed and unapologetic, receives a timeout. With Tiger roaring the enticing words “We can do anything we want. We can be wild!” the two run away. Lily’s expressive mop of black hair flies free behind her gleeful, paper-white face. But things begin to get too wild as Tiger eats all their sustenance, equipment, and, hilariously, Lily’s shoes. Like Maurice Sendak’s Max, Lily begins to miss home. Relief, hugs, and remorse are shared when Lily is found, and then both girl and tiger are lovingly tucked into bed. But Millward does not thereafter relegate Lily to a life of boredom or exacting behavior. Instead, she gives Lily depth, acknowledging that the girl may still want to visit the wild at times—and her parent may also. These sophisticated, energetic illustrations, full of spontaneity and made to look like a child’s drawing on paper, are loaded with playfulness and appeal that perfectly match the wit and wisdom of the text.

Ablaze with humor, insight, and love. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: June 30, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-593-11815-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020

Next book

CARPENTER'S HELPER

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Next book

HEY, DUCK!

A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.

A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.

He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts.  When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.

A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012

Close Quickview