An often engaging introduction to managing feelings for young readers.
Cherkas presents an illustrated children’s chapter book with lessons about emotions and friendship.
The story opens in Glacier Cove, where a rock-hopping penguin, Percy, notices that Bella the Blue Whale seems upset. She tells Percy she misses her family, and he reassures her that friends can be family, too. In another chapter, Percy is afraid of sliding down a massive ice mountain, but with the encouragement of a friend, he eventually overcomes his fear. When Max the Elephant Seal finds a friend’s lost necklace and wants to keep it, Percy teaches Max about honesty. After telling the truth, Max feels “a warmth inside him that was far better than the joy of having the necklace.” At the Great Glacier Cove Meet, Edgar the Polar Bear takes issue with Sam the Skua (a predatory sea bird) being allowed to play in the games. Percy takes the opportunity to praise diversity and invites Sam to teach everyone a new game; Edgar realizes that “Our differences should be celebrated, not criticized.” Melting ice forces the animal friends to relocate the next Great Glacier Cove Meet, and in the process, they learn that change is challenging but can also lead to great new experiences. Percy also shares a golden seashell he found with a friend after learning that sharing “doesn’t mean losing something. It means multiplying the happiness it brings.” Throughout, Cherkas explains emotions in ways that youngsters will often find easy to understand. For example, Oliver the Snowy Owl compares sadness to an iceberg, stating, “There’s a whole lot more hidden beneath the surface.” He also incorporates humor, as when a penguin asks a puffin, “Why the long beak?” However, a few lessons may be a bit too abstract for children, such as “He realized that self-esteem and confidence came from believing in oneself.” Mead’s illustrations are boldly colored and balance chilly Arctic ambiance with the friends’ affectionate warmth in lively scenes.
An often engaging introduction to managing feelings for young readers.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798822937451
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Entrancing and uplifting.
A small dog, the elderly woman who owns him, and a homeless girl come together to create a tale of serendipity.
Piper, almost 12, her parents, and her younger brother are at the bottom of a long slide toward homelessness. Finally in a family shelter, Piper finds that her newfound safety gives her the opportunity to reach out to someone who needs help even more. Jewel, mentally ill, lives in the park with her dog, Baby. Unwilling to leave her pet, and forbidden to enter the shelter with him, she struggles with the winter weather. Ree, also homeless and with a large dog, helps when she can, but after Jewel gets sick and is hospitalized, Baby’s taken to the animal shelter, and Ree can’t manage the complex issues alone. It’s Piper, using her best investigative skills, who figures out Jewel’s backstory. Still, she needs all the help of the shelter Firefly Girls troop that she joins to achieve her accomplishment: to raise enough money to provide Jewel and Baby with a secure, hopeful future and, maybe, with their kindness, to inspire a happier story for Ree. Told in the authentic alternating voices of loving child and loyal dog, this tale could easily slump into a syrupy melodrama, but Pyron lets her well-drawn characters earn their believable happy ending, step by challenging step, by reaching out and working together. Piper, her family, and Jewel present white; Pyron uses hair and naming convention, respectively, to cue Ree as black and Piper’s friend Gabriela as Latinx.
Entrancing and uplifting. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-283922-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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