A clever, funny animal tale about acceptance and community.
A platypus searches for a beach that will welcome her family in this picture book about inclusivity.
On a perfect beach day, Mrs. Duck-billed Platypus packs up all the things she and her seven children need to enjoy the surf and sand. After applying sunscreen to the kids and her egg, she leads them to the area’s nicest beach. Unfortunately, there’s a sign: “No beaks allowed.” Mrs. Platypus thinks about arguing with the buffalo lifeguard, but she’s encountered animals like him before and “she can tell he is not going to listen or change his mind.” After being turned away from eight more beaches, the platypuses are ready to head home until they find other animals who were also excluded. Mrs. Platypus leads the group to an unoccupied beach and makes a sign welcoming everyone. Soon, their sunny oasis is crowded with happy animals—and the private beaches have all been abandoned. With the same energy and theme as Lisa Mantchev’s Strictly No Elephants(2015),this story about including everyone resonates. Lescaut uses an accessible vocabulary and generally short sentences (the beach supply list is the longest one in the book), making this tale well suited for emergent readers. The text varies between direct narration and dialogue, as the young platypuses provide humorous commentary on the day. Martí’s digital watercolor illustrations make excellent use of the amusing platypus shapes, giving readers a charming group of anthropomorphic animals to follow to beautifully drawn beaches.
A clever, funny animal tale about acceptance and community.Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1734761887
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tra Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.
Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780063460775
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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