This story’s inclusive, mildly spooky plot and its visual details will engage kids and encourage rereading for what they...
An updated, aquatic version of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” this #ownvoices-authored story has a protagonist who possesses more curiosity than courage.
In this swamp-filled, poetic, circular tale, an unnamed child asks readers Dora the Explorer–type direct-address questions while inviting readers aboard a motorboat. Since Granny has said that the gator has skin “like nails” and a temper that’s “hot like sauce,” the protagonist imparts safety advice and passes you a life jacket and a pair of binoculars. Shadowed shapes that prompt many false alarms enable young readers to guess which animals the protagonist sees before light and a binocular view reveal them. When a big shadowy hint suggests that the protagonist is about to find that gator, a hasty retreat commences. Set in the bayou, this book features a black girl with an afro-puff ponytail, contributing to what may be a growing genre of children’s books that depict black and brown children and families enjoying nature. Notably, the companion to whom the protagonist hands binoculars has arms that are equally brown, frequently seen breaking into the frame. With full-page spreads of bold color, especially blues and greens, Preston-Gannon invites young readers to notice and discuss the clearly illustrated flora and fauna.
This story’s inclusive, mildly spooky plot and its visual details will engage kids and encourage rereading for what they might have missed. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-246330-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd.
Little Blue Truck learns that he can be as important as the big yellow school bus.
Little Blue Truck is driving along the country road early one morning when he and driver friend Toad come across a big, yellow, shiny school bus. The school bus is friendly, and so are her animal passengers, but when Little Blue Truck wishes aloud he could do an important job like hers, the school bus says only a bus of her size and features can do this job. Little Blue Truck continues along, a bit envious, and finds Piggy crying by the side of the road, having missed the bus. Little Blue tells Piggy to climb in and takes a creative path to the school—one the bus couldn’t navigate—and with an adventurous spirit, gets Piggy there right on time. The simple, rhyming text opens the story with a sweet, fresh, old-fashioned tone and continues with effortlessly rhythmical lines throughout. Little Blue is a brave, helpful, and hopeful character young readers will root for. Adults will feel a rush of nostalgia and delight in sharing this story with children as the animated vehicles and animals in innocent, colorful countryside scenes evoke wholesome character traits and values of growth, grit, and self-acceptance. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-41224-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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