LITTLE RED HENRY

Name: LITTLE RED HENRY
Author: Linda Urban
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6176-2

by Linda Urban ; illustrated by Madeline Valentine ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2015

A story that humorously but gently reminds overprotective families that it is natural and necessary and healthy for a child...

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A picture book about a youngest child who wants to grow up...but the rest of the family isn’t ready to let him.

Little redheaded Henry is the adored baby of the family. Mama, Papa, sister Mem and brother Sven all can’t do enough for him. They cart him and coddle him and dote on him—but “[f]rankly, little redheaded Henry [is] sick of it.” When Henry insists on doing for himself, the family is at loose ends—until they rediscover long-neglected personal creative interests that foster healthier familial bonds. Striking a balance between lively and atmospheric, Valentine’s illustrations lend a depth to the lighthearted story of cosseted Henry’s insistence on independence. Her design sense is sophisticated—vignettes are used to great advantage to show movement and time passing, and gutters are expertly utilized in double-page spreads to underscore division. Additionally, readers’ eyes are skillfully navigated through each illustration and to the page turn. Urban’s narrative tone matches the illustrative tone in its sophistication. Relatively complicated sentence structures are combined with simple ones, and the result is an energetic text—although the rule of three is applied with perhaps a bit too much regularity.

A story that humorously but gently reminds overprotective families that it is natural and necessary and healthy for a child to learn to do for himself. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 28, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-7636-6176-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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HELLO THERE, SUNSHINE

by Tabitha Brown ; illustrated by Olivia Duchess ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 11, 2025

Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale.

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Actor, social media star, and entrepreneur Brown pens a joyful paean to positive thinking in her children’s debut.

Brown-skinned Tab rides a strawberry-themed bike, accompanied by a curly-haired black dog, Grady. Tab’s dazzling smile and wide eyes signal the upbeat theme echoed in the text, celebrating the sun’s warmth, which “fills everyone up with joy.” But Tab’s mood shifts, as it’s a “cloudy and gray” June day. Alert readers will spot the dog’s smiling countenance and note glimpses of sunny yellow butterflies and flowers. Mama’s reassurance that there’s “always a chance” for sunshine also underscores the optimism. Tab and Grady bike through suburban streets “to find the sun.” Along the way, the two stop to assist a neighbor building a birdhouse, loft a kite for friends Frankie and Fonte, and lend a hand to others, all while still having fun. Mama steers Tab toward an eventual understanding of the real source of joy: Though the sun didn’t appear, “I brightened everyone’s day!” The illustrations subtly underscore the message of this radiant story as touches of gold lighten the palette, which ends with sunny brilliance. Most characters read Black, though Tab’s community includes people who vary in skin tone, body type, and ability.

Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 11, 2025

ISBN: 9780063342262

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: March 21, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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)