A deeply satisfying tale of a square peg who finds a way to triumph.
A day in the life of a well-meaning child who’s somehow never far from trouble.
Young Max spits out too-hot oatmeal and makes a huge mess, forgets to get dressed, and misses the bus after being distracted by the sight of squirrels devouring an old jack-o’-lantern outside. At school, Max has a long to-do list (“Keep hands to myself”; “Don’t keep my sweatshirts here overnight”). Max’s teacher, Ms. Fitzmorris, winks encouragingly when Max hands in homework, and when Max plays a leading role in a group project that involves building a tower out of index cards, she’s thrilled. Frank writes in long, stream-of-consciousness sentences, capturing Max’s boundless excitement. (“Have you ever wanted to play on everything so badly that the only solution is for your body to explode into a bunch of different pieces, which is impossible to do safely?”) She offers a realistic yet sensitive portrait of a child who’s often a little out of step with the rest of the world but who’s undeniably perceptive and thoughtful—and who’s lucky enough to have a sympathetic adult who sees that. Many neurodivergent readers will recognize themselves in Max. Steele’s thick-lined watercolor, ink, and pencil illustrations brim with Max’s unbridled energy; each scene feels almost like a story, featuring details for attentive viewers to pick out. Max presents Asian, while Ms. Fitzmorris is brown-skinned; the class is diverse.
A deeply satisfying tale of a square peg who finds a way to triumph. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781984852434
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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