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INKY'S GREAT ESCAPE

THE INCREDIBLE (AND MOSTLY TRUE) STORY OF AN OCTOPUS ESCAPE

For reading aloud or reading alone, a joyful but misleading re-creation of a fabulous feat.

A daring cephalopod makes history.

Famed for his many escapes, an octopus named Inky, “retired to the local aquarium,” performs one more to impress his friends. Slithering from his tank and past the other aquarium exhibits, he heads down a drain to the ocean. This fanciful story is based on a true octopus escape from a facility in New Zealand in 2016. Lyall anthropomorphizes her animals, giving her protagonist a propensity for storytelling and motivation for his great escape: a bet from his tank mate, Blotchy. Also, satisfyingly, though not accurately, she suggests that the escape artist occasionally returns to play cards and continue to regale his tank mate with his exploits. The text is set on digitally colored pencil-and-ink drawings, busy spreads showing a range of aquarium wildlife, depicted with large eyes and surprised expressions. There are also visitors and even a keeper, so distracted by the sound from his headphones he doesn’t see the fleeing fugitive. Sadly, the illustrator has perpetuated the cartoon misconception that an octopus has eyes on the top of the sac that is its body, rather than on the head that is the center of a cephalopod. Divya Srinivasan gets it right in a similarly anthropomorphic Octopus Alone (2013).

For reading aloud or reading alone, a joyful but misleading re-creation of a fabulous feat. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4549-2635-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

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THE DAY THE CRAYONS MADE FRIENDS

Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.

After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.

Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.

Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 3, 2025

ISBN: 9780593622360

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025

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