Noodles, shakes, whatever you call them: Worries aren’t fun, but they don’t have to interfere with life either.
A young ostrich copes with anxiety.
Opal Feather’s long neck feels “as wobbly as a spaghetti noodle” whenever she becomes anxious. Her family refers to that feeling as “The Noodles” and tries to help her by offering her empowering compliments, cuddles, and jokes, but these don’t calm Opal. Today is her family’s annual soiree, one of Opal’s favorite days, and she’s tasked with picking up the special tart. She performs the self-calming ritual she relies on before doing something new and scary—e.g., going to the bakery. On the way, she misconstrues the actions of various pals she encounters. Opal repeatedly frets they’re all mad at her (though they each quickly explain that they aren’t). By the time Opal reaches the bakery, her anxiety has exhausted her. However, everyone is proud Opal accomplished her goal. Even better, Opal’s proud of herself, recognizing she faced challenges. This is a comforting story about a problem many kids deal with; it reassures them that worries aren’t unusual and don’t have to feel overwhelming. The authors leave readers with the realistic yet optimistic view that anxiety doesn’t disappear altogether but can be confronted through one’s own positive outlook and support from family and friends. Colorful, cartoony digital illustrations are lively and endearing; note the enjoyable seek-and-find opportunity at the end. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Noodles, shakes, whatever you call them: Worries aren’t fun, but they don’t have to interfere with life either. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593615669
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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