Vibrant illustrations and simple poetry converge into a great introduction to mythology and astronomy.
Stevenson’s lushly illustrated children’s book tells the constellations’ stories.
In short, catchy rhyming couplets, Stevenson shares the tales of the constellations based on Greek myths of gods, heroes, and monsters—like that of Corvus, named after Apollo’s punishment of the crow of bad tidings; Pavo conjures Hera’s peacock with spying eyes littered throughout its feathers; and Hydra evokes the myth of Heracles’ slaying of the sea serpent—as well as other triumphs and tragedies written in the stars. (“Not only did this horse have wings, / but he created magic springs!”) Maris’ illustrations bring these stories to life in a cool palette of mostly blues, violets, and greens, a perfect contrast to the book’s use of bright yellows and soft whites to draw out the stars. This is not to say the book is overly dark. Jupiter and the little fox Vulpecula are rendered in bright orange, and the Phoenixes fly in a fiery and bright-pink glow, never obscuring their celestial patterns. Maps of the actual constellations are laid over the figures they represent, so readers might recognize them in the night sky if they know where to look. Each constellation contains a compass within the illustration with a “hidden” direction that indicates the constellation’s hemisphere and gives kids another way to engage with the work. The children stargazing are depicted diversely, each of a different race or culture. The entries balance astronomy and poetic storytelling, from the unrivaled size of the Hydra (“the largest in the sky”) to the existence of the Phoenix in Egyptian legend as well. Kids who like magical creatures and monsters will find a few here, though parents worried about frightening or inappropriate imagery given the nature of Greek mythology have nothing to fear. Cerebus is depicted as a three-headed purple puppy, while the reasons for Hera’s jealousy concerning Zeus are kept child friendly.
Vibrant illustrations and simple poetry converge into a great introduction to mythology and astronomy.Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 9780648872399
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Ethicool Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun.
In a race against their enemies, the Porch girls must find a peculiar pearl in order to foil a fiendish plot.
After defeating a monstrous Kyrgalops in The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch find themselves (after a series of madcap events) at Lake Kagloopy’s Purple Pearl Hotel with their mentor, Millicent Quibb. Quibb informs the trio that they must find the titular pearl before the members of their evil mad-scientist rivals, the KRA, do. If they fail, the KRA (whose members include the malevolent mayor, Majestina DeWeen, and her slimy sycophantic lawyer, Ashley Cookie) plans to use the gem to bestow the Gift of Endless Vibrancy on the villainous Talon Sharktūth. Hilarity ensues as the Porches attend the annual Shrimp Ball, encounter Umbrella Turkeys, search for Cloudite (floating cloud rocks), and don invisible but smelly woolen coats. Jokes aside, the girls’ story is intriguing, offering more clues to their mysterious backgrounds and tantalizing tidbits promising later adventures. McKinnon offers bountiful backstory (alongside a running joke to encourage readers to pick up the preceding volume) and enough guffaw-inducing jokes, zany footnotes, and creative jargon to enthrall readers both new and old with her delightful sophomore effort. Mixing humor, found family, and well-wrought worldbuilding, this sequel is a certain crowd pleaser. Final art not seen; in the previous book, the grayscale illustrations showed the girls with varying skin tones.
Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun. (appendices) (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780316555296
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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