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THE MOON IS A BALL

STORIES OF PANDA & SQUIRREL

Low-key friends and not-too-dramatic adventures can be enough sometimes.

Panda and Squirrel team up in simple stories about a friendship.

Within this usually supportive and considerate odd couple, Squirrel is slightly more resourceful and reasonable; Panda often grumbles. Snail’s pace challenges their patience, and his “weird” (i.e., thought-provoking) questions just irritate Panda—though she later advocates curiosity herself. When Panda pretends to be cranky at being disturbed, Fox insultingly calls her black spots “grubby.” The pair find an unhatched egg and care for it; they pass a day discovering that no game suits both. When a fall gives Panda amnesia, Squirrel reminds her of all they’ve done together. Both are capable of deception and manipulation. They know that the moon is a sphere but not that the Earth is. They experience conflict, sadness, contentment, homesickness, fear, embarrassment, and frequent annoyance. Minimalist illustrations break up the text on each page, adding lots of green and some touches of blue, red, and brown to a spare, expressive line that suits these spare tales. Frog and Toad, or Elephant and Piggie, they’re not; the characterization is simple, and they lack the closeness of the former pair and the verve of the latter, aiming for more basic interactions. Still, the tales, translated from Dutch, are enjoyable and will hold readers’ attention.

Low-key friends and not-too-dramatic adventures can be enough sometimes. (Fiction. 5-10)

Pub Date: April 4, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-77657-493-3

Page Count: 76

Publisher: Gecko Press

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

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CREEPY PAIR OF UNDERWEAR!

Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...

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  • Kirkus Reviews'
    Best Books Of 2017


  • New York Times Bestseller

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

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

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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