An engaging and enjoyably illustrated tale of characters uniting to defeat an obnoxious opponent.
In Garcia’s illustrated children’s book, the residents of a pumpkin patch team up to outwit their corvid attackers.
In this story, pumpkins find themselves tormented by a group of crows, but they find a way to defend themselves and protect their patch. The birds, led by Corvus, avoid the nearby cornfield, which is protected by a scarecrow (“Don’t you remember, feather-brains? We can’t harass the cornfield anymore. It has the most horrendous monster lurking in its midst!” Corvus says to his underling). However, the feathered fiends delight in making themselves as annoying as possible to Fairytale Pumpkin, Knucklehead, Warty Goblin, and their fellow pumpkin neighbors. (They’re all named for real pumpkin varieties, and the book’s back matter provides more detail on their idiosyncrasies.) The pumpkins decide that the time has come for them to fight back, but they disagree over strategy. Fairytale leads a mission to ask the corn to share their scarecrow, but the vegetables are not about to give up their defense. This comes as no surprise to Warty Goblin, whose objections Fairytale rudely overrode. After she returns from the cornfield and apologizes, he organizes the pumpkins into a scarecrow of their own, which effectively chases Corvus and company out of the patch for good. There are several fine lessons in the text, involving the value of mutual aid; the importance of forgiving others, rather than nursing resentments; and the need to listen to wise elders. All are rendered with welcome subtlety. Knoetze and De Vries’ full-color cartoon illustrations do an excellent job of bringing the text to life, relating the motions and emotions of the anthropomorphized but still plantlike pumpkins. The crows aren’t the most compelling villains—they seek only to make themselves a nuisance, rather than anything deeper—but Garcia turns them into a necessary obstacle for the pumpkins to overcome, and she delivers a satisfying resolution. Young readers will enjoy seeing the bullies get their comeuppance and they’re likely to find the book visually appealing, as well.
An engaging and enjoyably illustrated tale of characters uniting to defeat an obnoxious opponent.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9798891325272
Page Count: 46
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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
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