A lofty concept and radiant illustrations will leave readers on cloud nine.
A lightly personified series of skies puts out its cloudy laundry to dry while two human neighbors bond over the same task.
Permeated with dense imagery and atmospheric art, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Kooser’s tale establishes that the skies have “hung out their freshly washed clouds” so that they might “smell like air.” But soon the skies have “hurriedly wadded up [the] socks, T-shirts and underpants of cirrocumulus” into a “basket woven of sunbeams” to outrun the seventh sky, a “moth-eaten, dirty gray woolen blanket of stratus.” A thunderstorm begins, gloriously unfurling on full-bleed double-page spreads. Kooser’s picturesque poetry vividly shapes his living sky metaphors, whether they be billowing descriptions of “big muscly arms tattooed all over with all kinds of birds” or ominous portrayals of cumulonimbus clouds “squeezing the light out.” Under those same dynamic skies, a pair of brown-skinned children hang laundry atop a pair of adjacent brick buildings. Their burgeoning friendship, told entirely visually through tentative waves and the clothes-pinned notes they exchange, is as enchanting as the breathtaking post-storm rainbow connecting them. Myers’ skyscapes of brilliantly colored oils on wood are both spectacular and scientifically accurate. His clever use of reflections, the way he artfully plays with the book’s gutter, and the almost tactile paint striations create spreads that are, well, heavenly.
A lofty concept and radiant illustrations will leave readers on cloud nine. (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781536229004
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that.
Beatrice Zinker is a kinder, gentler Judy Moody.
Beatrice doesn’t want to be fit in a box. Her first word was “WOW,” not “Mom.” She does her best thinking upside down and prefers to dress like a ninja. Like Judy Moody, she has patient parents and a somewhat annoying younger brother. (She also has a perfectly ordinary older sister.) Beatrice spends all summer planning a top-secret spy operation complete with secret codes and a secret language (pig Latin). But on the first day of third grade, her best friend, Lenny (short for Eleanor), shows up in a dress, with a new friend who wants to play veterinarian at recess. Beatrice, essentially a kind if somewhat quirky kid, struggles to see the upside of the situation and ends up with two friends instead of one. Line drawings on almost every spread add to the humor and make the book accessible to readers who might otherwise balk at its 160 pages. Thankfully, the rhymes in the text do not continue past the first chapter. Children will enjoy the frequent puns and Beatrice’s preference for climbing trees and hanging upside down. The story drifts dangerously close to pedantry when Beatrice asks for advice from a grandmotherly neighbor but is saved by likable characters and upside-down cake. Beatrice seems to be white; Lenny’s surname, Santos, suggests that she may be Latina; their school is a diverse one.
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-6738-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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