Whimsical settings, creatively imagined creatures, and nonstop action make this unplanned trip well worth taking.
Fantastically detailed paintings depict a young boy’s encounters with a variety of quirky characters as he travels through unfamiliar territories in this Swedish import.
Pale-skinned, towheaded Sam wakes to find himself in a forest. A number of friendly “small folk” surround him and offer assistance. A wise woman tells him to take the “yellow road” to get back home. As he walks, climbs, rides, sails, and even parachutes, a magical backpack gifted by the small folk holds an apparently endless supply of just what he needs at any given moment. As in previous works, Nordqvist’s ink, watercolor, and acrylic illustrations reward close attention; the artwork contains myriad items not referred to in the straightforward text. Miniature farms with insect livestock, fancifully built houses, the wise woman’s cluttered room, and an artist’s studio are particularly intriguing. A spontaneous dip in a soup-pot pool, an amusing underwater scene, and a frantic chase by assorted animated toys add humor to Sam’s journey. Encounters with (slightly) menacing trolls and talking animals contribute to the fairy-tale feel. Reminiscent of Remy Charlip’s Fortunately (1964), the episodic tale sees Sam experiencing both setbacks and serendipitous events. Once reassured by Sam’s arrival in familiar surroundings, youngsters will undoubtedly enjoy multiple readings—or at least some backtracking to pore over their favorite scenes.
Whimsical settings, creatively imagined creatures, and nonstop action make this unplanned trip well worth taking. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781782509288
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 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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