A sweet, comforting, and encouraging Viking tale about friendship and compassion.
A young Viking worries about being different in this illustrated children’s book.
Klippe, a pale-skinned, redheaded Viking who wears a helmet with two horns, doesn’t think she fits in: “Klippe feels that she cannot keep up at School. That she does not understand the jokes the other kids make. That she cannot play the games, she wants to.” But one by one, other kids reach out to Klippe to show her that she belongs. Kanin reveals to Klippe that she also faces difficulties in school; after studying together, they find the answers to the questions they didn’t understand. When Klippe feels left out in a boisterous Viking group, one of the children thanks her for being caring and supporting others. Klippe realizes that even though she acts differently than the other kids, they see her strengths and love her. When Tyr invites Klippe to spar, she hesitates because she has never tried it. But Tyr makes her feel comfortable and Klippe realizes that she is a natural; all she had to do was try. While Klippe’s struggle is internal, these big emotions are very real, and her conflict with her own thoughts and feelings comes to an empowered resolution that young readers will appreciate. In this enjoyable and uplifting tale, Fyrre’s sentence structure is sometimes stilted, but the simple vocabulary makes the book accessible. Kini’s cartoon illustrations are eye-catching, full of funny hats, swords, and shields for the Vikings as well as a goose companion for Klippe. The characters’ varied skin tones reflect both modern diversity and the many lands where historical Vikings roamed, though the setting itself is far more fantastical and reminiscent of Cressida Cowell’s Berk in the How To Train Your Dragon series. The kindness of Klippe’s community offers an entry point for young readers to discuss their own feelings of being different.
A sweet, comforting, and encouraging Viking tale about friendship and compassion.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-648-81602-7
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Boogamedia
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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