A sweet, playful tale about stealing shoes and finding family.
A South Asian girl grapples with big changes at a family wedding.
Shilpa’s older sister, Maya, is getting married, and Shilpa is nervous. What if she loses Maya to her new family? Maya’s future husband’s younger brother, Rishi, makes her especially uneasy. For one thing, he won’t stop calling Shilpa “Bean.” For another, Maya calls Rishi “sweet”—will Maya ever call Shilpa that again? Shilpa tries to get past these troubles and focus on her main responsibility: upholding the tradition of Joota Chupai, or stealing the groom’s shoes and returning them only when he offers a prize. Shilpa and her cousin plot to steal the shoes, but Rishi is fast and tries to make off with them. In an unexpected twist, Rishi falls and hurts his knee, and Shilpa stops to help him. She soon realizes that Rishi isn’t her rival. Indeed, he turns out to be her newest partner in crime at the wedding—and maybe even her newest brother. Upbeat text and vibrant illustrations combine for a raucous story full of heart, movement, and joy. Although Shilpa’s change in attitude toward Rishi feels abrupt, her fears about losing her sibling and integrating into a new family are both relatable and beautifully explored. The illustrations are particularly inviting, featuring bold colors, intense emotional expression, and laugh-out-loud silliness.
A sweet, playful tale about stealing shoes and finding family. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780807571866
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
