A gleeful embracing of childhood mess and disorder.
In this picture book, a visiting ant leaves a note for the little boy whose untidy eating habits have provided her cohorts with so much food.
Jay, a brown-haired, big-eyed white boy with a chunky build, is a chaotic eater. He is always dropping crumbs, spilling drinks, chewing with his mouth open, and leaving scraps of food lying about. This is vexing for his parents, but very good news for Antonia, a blue-striped ant, and her plain black brothers and sisters, who have taken Jay’s scraps as an invitation to holiday at his house. Unfortunately for the ants, Jay’s parents’ cleaning efforts have escalated into outright anti-ant behavior. That is why Antonia has written a note in discarded chocolate-cake icing bidding Jay thank you and farewell—“We’re retreating to new (and safer) terrain”—and arranging to meet him in his treehouse. Cino presents Antonia’s note in a chocolate-colored, faux printed font across a combination of single- and double-page spreads. Each text block is edged by messy ant footprints, and the busy meanderings of Antonia and the others bring a sense of happy disorder. Bentley’s dawn-hued digital illustrations evince both a distinct style and a delightful deftness of touch—as in an apple core and banana skin, and Jay’s dad powdering a melon rind with ant poison. Jay is a relatable character whose behavior and motivations will be easily recognized by young readers. The ants, though expressionless, exhibit an endearing collective personality.
A gleeful embracing of childhood mess and disorder.Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9798988925170
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whimspire Books
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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