A modern fairy tale that speaks to our unsettled times.
Hooray! It’s King Winter’s birthday!
King Winter wants only one thing: to celebrate with his siblings, all monarchs devoted to the various seasons, whom he hasn’t seen since childhood. They convene at King Winter’s home to feast, lovingly depicted in a warm, vibrant spread full of food and flora. With all the seasons in one place, however, chaos ensues outside the icy fortress. Leaves and plants quickly bloom and wither away, confused animals are unsure when to hibernate, and conflicting weather patterns cause both too much water in some parts of the world and not enough in others. After realizing that their reunion is the cause of the pandemonium, the siblings quickly disperse and things go back to normal. Though King Winter realizes that he and his loved ones can’t be together, he’s comforted by the memories of their gathering. Inspired by an original fairy tale written by author Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz while fleeing persecution from Nazi Germany, Freedland tells a straightforward but complex story that speaks to both the inevitable changing of the seasons and the extenuating life circumstances that keep many families apart despite their love for each other; this is a much-needed tale in today’s world. Sutton’s intricate art showcases vast landscapes, affected by the monarchs’ celebration. King Winter and Queen Spring are pale-skinned; King Summer and Queen Autumn are dark-skinned.
A modern fairy tale that speaks to our unsettled times. (information about Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, photograph, illustration from Boschwitz’s unpublished manuscript) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781782694670
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Pushkin Children’s Books
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
Powered by whimsy and nostalgia, a doggone adorable tale of superheroes transforming the world for the better.
Can flying puppies, fueled by people’s hugs, save the world from gloom?
Light-skinned Snarly McBummerpants is busy sending out Mopey Smokes (evil-looking dark brown clouds) from his volcano on the Island of Woe to create a sad state of affairs. But the caped puppies, each equipped with a rocket and hailing from “the outer reaches of NOT-FROM-HERE,” use their abilities to conquer the morose McBummerpants and bring happiness back to everyone’s lives. The meticulously detailed illustrations carry the story, dark colors turning to rainbow hues and frowns turning to smiles. From Big Brad to Tiny Brad, the smallest, most powerful puppy, who “[licks] a kiss right on the tip of Snarly McBummerpants’s nose,” these absolutely endearing pooches elicit a universal “AWWWWWWWWWW!” from all who encounter them. Joyce’s witty illustrations depict diverse children and adults who appear to hail from different decades. Two teenagers wear the bobby socks and saddle shoes of the 1940s and ’50s and sit atop a retro soda cooler. Other kids ride the skateboards of a later era. Laurel and Hardy, classic movie performers who may need introduction, are amusingly pictured as bullies turned florists (a little odd, since only Hardy bullied Laurel). Even McBummerpants seems reminiscent of an old-time movie villain. The text is less inventive than the pictures, but the message of good over evil is always timely.
Powered by whimsy and nostalgia, a doggone adorable tale of superheroes transforming the world for the better. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781665961332
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
Birdsong began her career as a teacher, and the book will find repeated use in the classroom.
A multicultural girl-power manifesto featuring a feisty young girl who faces her day as a knight on an epic quest.
The unnamed narrator puts on her “armor” (a rainbow sweater) and fills her “treasure chest” (a backpack). Venturing forth to “explore new worlds,” she drives back “dragons” (neighborhood dogs on their walk), boards the “many-headed serpent” (her school bus, with schoolmates’ heads protruding from every window), and visits “the Mountain of Knowledge” (the school library) to “solve the mysteries of the unknown.” After standing up for her beliefs—by joining a classmate sitting alone in the cafeteria—the young girl returns home to rest in the lap of an older female relative, possibly a grandparent/primary caregiver, to prepare for the next day, when she can be “fierce again.” Birdsong’s repeated refrain—“I will be fierce!”—underlines the unambiguous message of this sassy picture book, and Chanani’s bold and energetic illustrations reinforce the text’s punchy, feminist-y declarations. They depict a joyously multiracial environment, consciously tackling stereotypes with an elderly, white, female bus driver and a groovy, Asian-presenting librarian with a green streak in her hair. The fierce protagonist herself has brown skin and fluffy, dark brown hair, and her caregiver also has brown skin.
Birdsong began her career as a teacher, and the book will find repeated use in the classroom. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-29508-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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