Sound, visually inspired guidance for young perfectionists.
A young musician discovers the joys of improvisation.
Hannah dreams of becoming a professional pianist and expects nothing less than perfection from herself. As she plays, a series of personified notes emerge, holding hands as they march and keeping “perfect pitch and a steady tempo,” even as Hannah’s more free-wheeling little sister, Jenny, romps among them. As Hannah practices for a performance of Swan Lake at her school’s year-end concert, she consistently gets one note wrong. “Wrong notes are fun,” says Jenny. Hannah disagrees and diligently rehearses. When the wrong note makes an appearance at the concert, Hannah is devastated. Her parents praise her, but she counters, “It wasn’t perfect!” At home, Jenny discovers the wrong note sulking in the corner and tickles it; together they wriggle in glee. Hannah’s never seen a note do that before. Ignoring her sheet music, she tries something new, and the notes “tripped and skipped and even flipped.” Hannah adores these new sounds and concludes, “Maybe the wrong note wasn’t wrong.” Though the story’s a bit heavy-handed, with an abrupt ending, it conveys a vital message about embracing imperfection and learning to cut loose. Goth employs robust language to convey Hannah’s passion, while Gagnon-Dumont’s loose, energetic illustrations rely on a limited palette of browns, grays, blues, white, and black, with yellow splashes. Hannah and her family are brown-skinned; their community is diverse.
Sound, visually inspired guidance for young perfectionists. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781771475914
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet notion that falls flat.
A hit song reimagined as a book about parental love.
Featured in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, Perri’s “A Thousand Years” deals with the speaker’s fear of romantic love. In picture-book form, it explores a parent’s unwavering love for a child, who grows from an infant into a toddler over the course of the narrative. The caregiver expresses awe when the youngster learns to stand and fear that the child might fall while beginning to walk. “I have spent every day waiting for you,” the parent says. “Darling, don’t be afraid.” What the child might fear isn’t clear from the joyful balloon- and rainbow-filled illustrations. The story borders on cloying, and words that might work when sung and accompanied by music don’t sound fresh on the page: “Time goes by. / You grow ever stronger as you fly.” The refrain, however, is a lovely sentiment: “I have loved you for a thousand years. / I’ll love you for a thousand more.” Perri’s legion of fans may flock to this version, illustrated by Ruiz with sparkling stars, bubbles, and big-eyed toddlers, but it doesn’t hold together as a narrative or an ode, as it’s billed, and it’s a long way from the original song. The child is tan-skinned, the parent is lighter-skinned, and other characters are diverse.
A sweet notion that falls flat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622599
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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