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WHEN THE DARK CLOUDS COME

Name: WHEN THE DARK CLOUDS COME
Author: Danielle Ridolfi
ISBN: 9780063413344

by Danielle Ridolfi ; illustrated by Danielle Ridolfi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 2025

A visually striking but ultimately discomfiting tale.

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A child endures a stormy night.

Illustrator and picture-book scholar Ridolfi’s debut opens outdoors “on a hot summer day when the sun goes dim” as a long-haired, tan-skinned child watches as clouds roll in, grasses sway, and leaves rustle. When raindrops fall, the little one, protected under an oversize purple plaid umbrella and wearing polka-dot boots, walks alongside other umbrella holders as “sidewalks disappear into dark wet shadows.” Before lightning flashes and thunder rolls, the adventurer returns home safely and snuggles into bed. The next morning’s “warm new day” reminds readers that “when the dark clouds come, the sun is never far behind.” Ridolfi has digitally composed striking illustrations in mixed-media collages of diverse patterns and various textures. Darkness haunts most of the pages—balanced with brighter patches of flowers, hanging laundry, and a quilted comforter—until the final two spreads are awash in sunlight. With a background as a clinical psychologist, Ridolfi highlights the child’s independent self-reliance, but that solitariness feels more lonely than empowering, abandoning the youngster to a scurrying mouse, a curious cat, and whispering shadows. The choice not to include ready comforts—a glowing night light, a gentle hand—as well as layouts that depict the child and the home as tiny and vulnerable, will leave many young readers feeling more unsettled than soothed.

A visually striking but ultimately discomfiting tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025

ISBN: 9780063413344

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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BETTER THAN A TOUCHDOWN

by Jalen Hurts ; illustrated by Nneka Myers ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2026

Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown.

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In Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Hurts’ motivational picture book, a youngster rebounds from disappointment.

As Jalen heads off on his first day of school, he daydreams about joining the football team, but his friend Trey soon breaks the bad news. The garden club needed more space for vegetables, so the football field was used for planting. There will be no football this year. Jalen is despondent, but his teachers Mrs. Lee and Mr. Barry and bodega owner Mr. Muhammad offer guidance that spurs him and his friends into positive action. They work to flip a nearby empty lot into a football field, with Jalen echoing his mentors’ adages. Once the field is complete, Jalen feels a swell of pride in his and his friends’ work. While the idea of kids working together to effect change is a laudable one, the bland, wordy storytelling won’t inspire young people or hold their attention. Tired, cliched inspirational comments peppered throughout often slow down the narrative, and many adult readers will find the premise—a school dropping a high-interest sports program in favor of a community garden—wildly unrealistic. Though the illustrations are colorful, with a Disney Junior charm, strange stylistic choices, such as signs with odd combinations of scribbles instead of letters, give them an unpolished look. Like Hurts, Jalen is Black; his community is diverse.

Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 10, 2026

ISBN: 9798217040308

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Flamingo Books

Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

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GRUMPY MONKEY

by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2018

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his...

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It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy?

When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up. When they meet Lemur, Lemur points out Jim’s bunchy eyebrows; Jim unbunches them. When he trips over Snake, Snake points out Jim’s frown…so Jim puts on a grimacelike smile. Everyone has suggestions to brighten his mood: dancing, singing, swinging, swimming…but Jim doesn’t feel like any of that. He gets so fed up, he yells at his animal friends and stomps off…then he feels sad about yelling. He and Norman (who regrets dancing with that porcupine) finally just have a sit and decide it’s a wonderful day to be grumpy—which, of course, makes them both feel a little better. Suzanne Lang’s encouragement to sit with your emotions (thus allowing them to pass) is nearly Buddhist in its take, and it will be great bibliotherapy for the crabby, cranky, and cross. Oscar-nominated animator Max Lang’s cartoony illustrations lighten the mood without making light of Jim’s mood; Jim has comically long arms, and his facial expressions are quite funny.

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his journey. (Picture book. 4-8)