A warm and uplifting reminder that love and creativity are what make celebrations truly special.
Isabel dreams of a big, blowout birthday party but must temper her wishes.
Curly-haired, tan-skinned Isabel greets her family on the morning of her birthday brimming with hope. She tells her mother that she’s hoping for a huge soiree with her friends but is disappointed when she learns they’ll be having “a small family fiesta.” Even the giant store-bought piñata she imagined is out of the family’s budget. A mishap convinces her she might not even get a cake, and by the end of the school day, Isabel feels let down by what seems like a ruined birthday. But when she arrives home, Isabel is surprised by a backyard celebration. The piñata and decorations are homemade, and instead of a cake, a tall stack of buñuelos awaits her. Surrounded by family, Isabel delights in the heartfelt, homespun party and realizes her birthday wish has come true in an unexpected way. Zapata honors the disappointment children feel when their hopes don’t align with reality while also modeling resilience and the joy that can come from flexibility. Galvez’s soft pastel hues set a gentle tone, even as Isabel frets that her big day won’t be everything she imagined. Isabel’s multigenerational family members are of Mexican heritage and speak both Spanish and English. A reader’s note, in English and Spanish and written by a psychologist, offers strategies to help children build inner strength.
A warm and uplifting reminder that love and creativity are what make celebrations truly special. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781433847509
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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