A charming story to fall into in autumn or any season; it might even tempt kids to try acorn squash.
It’s good to be a gourd.
Besties Acorn Squash and Pumpkin love spending time in winter, spring, and summer. Come autumn, though, Pumpkin receives all the adulation. People clamor for pumpkin pie, pumpkin lattes, and pumpkin bisque. Other gourds go unnoticed; Acorn Squash feels left out. This year, our protagonist has “#SquashGoals.” Determined to become an “Autumn STAR,” Acorn Squash sets up a booth at the Harvest Festival and spotlights goodies like “Squilk” (acorn squash–flavored milk). Sadly, Acorn Squash garners zero attention, while Pumpkin’s relentless PR team guarantees that huge crowds will clamor for her. In a surprise twist, Pumpkin tracks down Acorn Squash. In need of respite from the madness, she just wants to spend time with her pal. The crowds won’t let Pumpkin go, though, so Acorn Squash suggests joining forces, giving the public “a double dose of autumn awesomeness!” Consequently, “SquashKin” becomes a hot new trend, and the gourds are now besties in every season. This lively fall story about friendship and collaboration will boost children’s feelings of empathy; Acorn Squash is especially appealing and relatable. At times, the text has an adult sensibility, though: References to soup subscriptions, the paparazzi, and a PR team pushing hair, makeup, and autograph-signing appointments will likely sail over kids’ heads. Still, the cheery, dynamic illustrations, bursting with bright autumnal colors and personable, googly-eyed characters, are delightful. Humans are diverse.
A charming story to fall into in autumn or any season; it might even tempt kids to try acorn squash. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9780593805909
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...
Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.
The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mackinac Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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
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