Understanding each other’s unique needs is a tricky lesson to navigate—Ella and Penguin do so with charm and wit.
The kindly duo from Ella and Penguin Stick Together (2015) explore another friendship theme.
Penguin has found the perfect pair of striped pants to wear. But Ella is wearing a tutu and thinks that Penguin should wear one, too. After all, friends have to match. Penguin doesn’t want to disappoint, so he carefully squeezes into a tutu, his rosy cheeks growing redder with effort. A small “pfff” escapes his beak. When it is time for a snack, Ella suggests peppermints. Penguin decides he likes peppermints, too. “Because we’re friends! So we match!” Ella, the face of perfect contentment, delights in her candy, but Penguin spits his out in a minty rush. “Haaaaah! Hehhhhhh! Huuuuuh!” Poor Penguin, while getting the short end of the stick in every situation, is a comedic gem. Bonnet renders Penguin’s face into many agonizing contortions until suddenly he explodes in frustration: “This tutu is TOO TOO TIGHT!” Penguin and Ella’s friendship seems doomed. Friends have to like the same things, don’t they? Luckily, they realize they don’t have to match all the time. Maynor’s childcentric text is funny and empathetic. Ella is depicted as a little, light-skinned girl with dark hair, and Penguin is, well, a penguin.
Understanding each other’s unique needs is a tricky lesson to navigate—Ella and Penguin do so with charm and wit. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233089-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
