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HUMPHREY THE EGG-SPLORER

Name: HUMPHREY THE EGG-SPLORER
Author: Nadia Ali
ISBN: 9781953458575

by Nadia Ali ; illustrated by Valentí Gubianas ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2023

Appealing visuals can’t make up for a less than egg-citing storyline.

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Ready for adventure? Egg-cellent!

Returning from a shopping trip, a tan-skinned family of four brings home Humphrey Dumpty, an egg whose “greatest dream is to become an egg-splorer, just like my grandfather,” the legendary Humpty Dumpty. But Humphrey is fragile and well aware of that fact, despite attempts to toughen up by sword fighting with a spoon and testing their mettle by spending time in the freezer. Sadly, neither exercise proves fruitful. When Humphrey tries to find a quiet space to think of a new plan, their wanderings lead them to a bath—one that most readers will identify as a pot of water on the stove. Soaking for a bit, Humphrey emerges triumphant—as a hard-boiled egg! With this new, slightly stronger form (as the other eggs note, “You are still easy to crack. So please be careful”), Humphrey can finally set out to explore…just as the book ends. Readers may be frustrated with the meandering plot that comes to a stop just as the real action seems ready to begin. The loose, colorful illustrations, reminiscent of Chris Raschka’s art, try to lift the plot but can only do so much. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Appealing visuals can’t make up for a less than egg-citing storyline. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 1, 2023

ISBN: 9781953458575

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Yeehoo Press

Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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GOOD NIGHT THOUGHTS

by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by James Serafino ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2024

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers.

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Actor and author Greenfield’s latest picture book follows a child kept awake by anxieties.

The pajama-clad narrator huddles in bed among the blue shadows of a bedroom at night. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m afraid of all the scary stuff I see.” Bright, candy-hued clouds of cartoon images surround the child, lively, disruptive depictions of the what-ifs and exaggerated disasters that crowd out sleep: war (we see the world pop “into a piece of popcorn”), kidnapping (pirates carry away the child’s teddy bear), falling “up” into the sun, tarantulas in the toilet, and a menacing-looking dentist. These outsize insomnia inducers may help readers put their own unvoiced concerns into perspective; after all, what frightens one person might seem silly but understandable to another. Our narrator tries to replace the unsettling thoughts with happy ones—hugging a baby panda, being serenaded by a choir of doughnuts, and “all the people who love me holding hands and wearing every piece of clothing that they own.” But sleep is still elusive. Finally, remembering that there’s a difference between reality and an overactive imagination, the child relaxes a bit: “Right now, everything is okay. And so am I.” Reassuring, though not exactly sedate, this tale will spark daytime discussions about how difficult it can be to quiet unsettling thoughts. The child has dark hair and blue-tinged skin, reflecting the darkness of the bedroom.

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024

ISBN: 9780593697894

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

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by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

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by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

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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)