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BUBBLE GUM BISON NEEDS A BATH

From the Bison Family series

Readers will wish all bad days were as fun as the one depicted here.

Bubble Gum Bison avoids bubble baths…until that becomes impossible.

Bubble Gum Bison is having a great day, playing with her brother (whom readers may recall from 2022’s Blue Bison Needs a Haircut), conducting science experiments at school, and chewing bubble gum and blowing bright-pink bubbles with her friends on the playground. Even slipping in a big mud puddle is fun until her mother insists that Bubble Gum Bison take a bath. No way! A muddy Bubble Gum Bison escapes out the bathroom window and heads to the playground, but all her friends have gone home. She accidentally falls into a giant pile of chewed-up bubble gum and then lands in a heap of feathers. Now she desperately wants a bath, but for some reason, the whole town is out of water. In anger, Bubble Gum Bison nearly rams her head into a rock, but she hears her brother Blue Bison ramming his head into a nearby metal pipe surrounded by a puddle of water. Could that pipe have something to do with the town’s dwindling water supply? Working together, the siblings find a way to put things right. Digitally created illustrations dominated by bubble gum pink depict an adorably anthropomorphic animal cast with big eyes and rounded features; Bubble Gum Bison’s mood shifts—from unfettered exuberance while rolling in the mud to pure irritation when she learns the water’s all gone—are a delight.

Readers will wish all bad days were as fun as the one depicted here. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 11, 2024

ISBN: 9780593702956

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House Studio

Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

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THE DAY THE CRAYONS MADE FRIENDS

Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.

After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.

Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.

Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 3, 2025

ISBN: 9780593622360

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025

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