Sensitive, relatable, and sweet.
School has started, and with it comes an avalanche of anxiety for Bulldozer.
Despite reassurances from Mom and Dad (who are human like everyone else in the cast, except for the titular character), Bulldozer has a stomachache. But he spots a familiar face—his next-door neighbor Millie Patel. The other kids giggle when he knocks over a bookcase while putting away his lunchbox; at circle time, he can’t sit “crisscross applesauce” like everyone else; and, when urged by Millie to show off one of his “tricks” (backing up while beeping), he accidentally breaks a table. At recess, Bulldozer’s mood improves as he, Millie, and new friend Ryan—joined by others—build a clubhouse. Back in the classroom, he resumes worrying, but he’s buoyed by feelings of acceptance and an opportunity to help clean up. In the first book in the series, Bulldozer’s hesitations were related to his shyness; here, his physical difficulties loom larger. Never obvious or overdone, with expertly matched orange-tinged artwork, this early reader series engages again. Bulldozer’s refreshingly honest assessments (“School is…not great, but it’s okay,” he decides), his often-warring desires to be true to his own needs and to fit in, and his small but deeply satisfying triumphs make him an authentic hero for anyone who’s ever felt a bit insecure. Mom and Dad are light-skinned, Millie is cued South Asian, and the class is diverse.
Sensitive, relatable, and sweet. (wordplay activities) (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780316564199
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 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
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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