A charming portrayal of a whimsical trickster librarian who knows how to get kids reading.
Change can be challenging but good.
Summer’s over, and the Belford Elementary students are thrilled to return to school. But when they learn that Ms. Stack, their librarian, has moved away, they hatch a plan to refuse to read with the new librarian, Ms. Bangle, until Ms. Stack returns. A brown-skinned, large, vivacious woman, Ms. Bangle wears a huge puffball on the top of her head and clothing with lots of colors and patterns. Instead of resisting the students’ rejection of her, she thanks them for giving her the day off and puts them to work on (boring) library chores, including taking empty boxes to the basement, where they’re all afraid to go. Steele’s thick-lined illustrations, featuring racially diverse characters with large, bulging eyes, capture the kids’ excitement about being back in school and their solidarity in their plan to get Ms. Stack to come back. The illustrations also convey Ms. Bangle’s liveliness: She enters the library with a stack of notebooks on her shoulder and moves so fast that colored papers fly out behind her. The colorful posters on the walls, stuffed animals atop the shelves, and the sewing machine on which Ms. Bangle hems her pants while the kids suffer through chores hint at the delights the students are missing. But this Black librarian is both fun-loving and clever, which leads to a satisfying ending. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A charming portrayal of a whimsical trickster librarian who knows how to get kids reading. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 9781250247704
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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
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Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.
After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.
Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622360
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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