by Andrea Zuill ; illustrated by Andrea Zuill ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2023
A delightful, sharply observed tale about friendship and taking those first tentative steps toward independence.
What wouldn’t you do for your bestie?
Little Cap, a small mushroom with a spotted red cap and oversized round spectacles, lives a cozy life with Gustav, his slug BFF. One day, Gustav goes missing when the gate around their house is somehow left open. Distraught—and very timid—Little Cap resolves to do whatever it takes to find him. Worrying about Gustav’s fate, he ventures out and musters the courage to talk to neighbors, and his fears hasten him over rough terrain and unfamiliar landscapes. Finally, he locates Gustav among a colorful assemblage of slugs. After their joyful reunion, they return home and resume former activities. Not so fast, though: Little Cap has changed. He’s grown in life experience, courage, self-confidence, and sociability. He now loves recounting stories of his exploits to neighbors and realizes he wants to have new ones with Gustav. This very sweet, quietly told story will help children understand it’s OK to make small forays out of one’s comfort zone to make new discoveries—especially about oneself—and that it’s most rewarding to have adventures with a friend. The rich, warm, ink-drawn, digitally colored illustrations wonderfully capture the protagonists’ textured natural surroundings. Readers can seek out Gustav in the endpapers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightful, sharply observed tale about friendship and taking those first tentative steps toward independence. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-48747-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2021
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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by Aaron Reynolds & illustrated by Peter Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 21, 2012
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Awards & Accolades
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New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
Caldecott Honor Book
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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