This zombie may not be able to keep her body together, but she can sure keep her head in delicate situations and be a good...
A student who is a zombie has more difficulty than most keeping it together at school, but her relationship skills are never in any doubt.
Math, grammar, spelling, and reading precede the much-anticipated show-and-tell (Zombelina’s “hip-hop’s to DIE for!”), and by then, readers will see where the tale might be going, as Zombelina loses the hand she raises to answer a question, and she puts her nose in her book. Literally. Sure enough, Zombelina and her dance both fall apart. But though the green-skinned girl is upset, it doesn’t keep her from building the nervous ghost Morty up for his turn on his first day in a new school. After all, what could be worse than Zombelina’s performance? After that, she, Morty, and her friend Lizzie (a living white girl) are fast friends. The tale ends with a dance party at Zombelina’s house after her classmates request dance lessons. Crow’s verses have the hip-hop rhythm of rap, though some will take some practice to read aloud smoothly. Idle’s Prismacolor-pencil illustrations portray Zombelina as a blonde with a style all her own. Zigzags and hash marks make it look as though her body parts are stitched together. Aside from the phantasmagoric, blue Morty, the rest of the class has a normal range of diverse skin tones.
This zombie may not be able to keep her body together, but she can sure keep her head in delicate situations and be a good friend. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61963-641-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers.
Two little rats decide to show the world how tough they are, with unpredictable results.
Louie and Ralphie Ratso want to be just like their single dad, Big Lou: tough! They know that “tough” means doing mean things to other animals, like stealing Chad Badgerton’s hat. Chad Badgerton is a big badger, so taking that hat from him proves that Louie and Ralphie are just as tough as they want to be. However, it turns out that Louie and Ralphie have just done a good deed instead of a bad one: Chad Badgerton had taken that hat from little Tiny Crawley, a mouse, so when Tiny reclaims it, they are celebrated for goodness rather than toughness. Sadly, every attempt Louie and Ralphie make at doing mean things somehow turns nice. What’s a little boy rat supposed to do to be tough? Plus, they worry about what their dad will say when he finds out how good they’ve been. But wait! Maybe their dad has some other ideas? LaReau keeps the action high and completely appropriate for readers embarking on chapter books. Each of the first six chapters features a new, failed attempt by Louie and Ralphie to be mean, and the final, seventh chapter resolves everything nicely. The humor springs from their foiled efforts and their reactions to their failures. Myers’ sprightly grayscale drawings capture action and characters and add humorous details, such as the Ratsos’ “unwelcome” mat.
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers. (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7636-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
An absolute pleasure.
A small dog takes a huge leap.
True to her name, sled dog puppy Leap spends her days bounding happily through blankets of freshly fallen snow, bouncily biding her time until she, too, can suit up for a run with the team. Each dog brings a different, equally essential skill to the work of mushing, and as too-young Leap greets the pack when they return from their daily hike, she worries—what if she lacks a special talent of her own when it’s her time to race? But when the much-anticipated day arrives and Leap clips in for her rookie run, her feet tippity-tap excitedly, any trace of self-doubt eclipsed by her irrepressible enthusiasm. With their new addition in tow, the other dogs take off, buoyed as ever by a confidence borne from specialized expertise; they confront obstacles head-on, sailing easily along icy Northwoods terrain. That is until the team encounters a seemingly insurmountable hurdle, one that only their greenest member can clear. Dogsled racer Braverman’s sweet narrative builds a satisfying case for individuality as a community asset, celebrating both the value of teamwork and the discrete strengths that comprise it. Savvy readers will take pride in predicting Leap’s unique contribution, while canine lovers will delight in the revelation that the pups depicted are all real-life sled dogs working in northern Wisconsin. When’s illustrations are equal parts spellbinding and precious, deftly balancing compositional simplicity with masterful color work. The result is peerless.
An absolute pleasure. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063238053
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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