Postal pranks and mailroom mischief make for a series starter worth writing home about.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night keeps this plucky mouse from his deliveries.
Having grown up hearing the tales of his intrepid Great-Aunt Ada, aka “the GREATEST MAILMOUSE WHO EVER LIVED,” Marty Moose is determined to follow in her footsteps. (The book’s opening pages explain that Marty’s unusual name is the result of a birth certificate error.) He sallies forth on his first day of work. Unfortunately, a prankster in the mailroom has slipped two packages that don’t belong into Marty’s pack. Initially all goes well, and though Marty gets lost while making deliveries in a rabbit warren, he befriends Nibbles Frizzby, a bunny best described as a “complete and utter kook,” with a personality that’s equal parts trickster and wise fool. When Marty delivers the prankster’s packages to a pair of feuding toads, he finds himself in dire circumstances. Now Marty must not only escape with his life, but also find the blackguard who’s tricked him. Plenty of potty humor and a justified but still mean-spirited ending threaten to waylay the book’s earnest premise, but Marty’s good humor and Nibbles’ genuine hilarity do much to alleviate such concerns. Powell’s expressive and cartoonish line drawings also bring to life both Marty’s own emotional roller coaster and the chaos his adventures unleash.
Postal pranks and mailroom mischief make for a series starter worth writing home about. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
ISBN: 9781536247800
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts.
What terrors lurk within your mouth? Jasper Rabbit knows.
“You have stumbled your way into the unknown.” The young bunny introduced in Reynolds and Brown’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, Creepy Carrots (2012), takes up Rod Serling’s mantle, and the fit is perfect. Mimicking an episode of The Twilight Zone, the book follows Charlie Marmot, an average kid with a penchant for the strange and unusual. He’s pleased when his tonsils become infected; maybe once they’re out he can take them to school for show and tell! That’s when bizarre things start to happen: Noises in the night. Slimy trails on his bedroom floor. And when Charlie goes in for his surgery, he’s told that the tonsils have disappeared from his throat; clearly something sinister is afoot. Those not yet ready for Goosebumps levels of horror will find this a welcome starter pack. Reynolds has perfected the tension he employed in his Creepy Tales! series, and partner in crime Brown imbues each illustration with both humor and a delicate undercurrent of dark foreshadowing. While the fleshy pink tonsils—the sole spot of color in this black-and-white world—aren’t outrageously gross, there’s something distinctly disgusting about them. And though the book stars cute, furry woodland creatures, the spooky surprise ending is 100% otherworldly—a marvelous moment of twisted logic.
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts. (Early chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781665961080
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 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.
