An earnest, slightly preachy call to action to look after one another.
One brave act of kindness can be a catalyst for peace.
Mountain families and valley families live in a lush environment, surrounded by terraced farms and verdant meadows. They both depend on water for sustenance and survival, using it to grow crops, wash clothes, and more. But the changing climate causes the water level to rise and fall, wreaking havoc on this bucolic existence and causing strife. Neither group wants to help the other, preferring to guard their own precious resources. When severe floods put the valley people in a precarious situation, a mountain child insists that the mountain people step in and help their neighbors. This first step begins a cascade of subsequent acts of kindness that eventually restore peace. Using simple and somewhat didactic prose, Shuster and Soetoro-Ng present the lesson of the golden rule in, fittingly, the form of a parable. Gardel alternates between warm and cool palettes, depicting a racially diverse cast of people, and inserts motifs like the sun and the moon to emphasize the importance of nature to these people’s lives. Her style evokes traditional folktales, in which some people have recognizable facial features and others are only simple, colorful forms. The book would be an adequate starting point for curriculum units on compassion, service, and social emotional learning. The work closes with an afterword by Soetoro-Ng, co-founder of the Peace Studio, an organization that helps artists and journalists work toward social change. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An earnest, slightly preachy call to action to look after one another. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2023
ISBN: 9781536207590
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
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
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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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