Review of Too Small Tola Makes It Count, by Atinuke

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

Too Small Tola Makes It Count

by Atinuke
illustrated by Onyinye Iwu

Candlewick Press, 2024. First published in the United Kingdom in 2023. 90 pages.
Review written March 17, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

I love Too Small Tola! Here are more adventures for children ready to read chapter books. You don’t have to have read the earlier ones to enjoy this one, but I do recommend them, and characters return.

I like the way these books give younger children a window into other people’s lives without any need to feel sorry for them and showing lots of love.

Too Small Tola lives in Lagos, unbelievable Lagos.

In Lagos there are children who live in mansions. Mansions so big, their parents have to call their children’s cell phones to find which room they are in!

And in Lagos there are children who sleep on cardboard boxes under bridges where people step over them both day and night.

Tola’s family is lucky. They do not own a mansion or even an apartment. But they do not sleep under bridges either. They are lucky enough to have the roof of one room over their heads.

Tola lives with her Grandmommy and an older brother and older sister. We’re getting to know some of the other people in their building.

In past books, Tola was able to solve some problems using Math. In this book, there are some life problems to solve, which can be trickier. Tola is able to solve problems for her neighbors, but she can’t get her school classmates to believe that she worked for a famous rock star’s family during the lockdown – until they get a nice comeuppance in the last chapter.

Other problems involve helping Mrs. Shaky-Shaky, who can no longer go up the stairs, and traveling to the beach to escape the heat, and watching her neighbor’s baby, who makes an escape.

It all involves everyday life for Tola, and we get to enjoy the kind and wonderful people she interacts with every day, as well as appreciate Tola’s ingenuity.

These books always make me smile.

atinuke.co.uk
onyinyeiwu.com
candlewick.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Orris and Timble: Lost and Found, by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Carmen Mok

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Orris and Timble

Lost and Found

by Kate DiCamillo
illustrated by Carmen Mok

Candlewick Press, 2025. 76 pages.
Review written June 5, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

Here’s a second beginning chapter book about an old rat named Orris and a young owl named Timble, who are, surprisingly, friends. Like the first, it’s a sweet and gentle story.

Orris has gotten accustomed to visits from Timble every evening when they talk with each other and enjoy each other’s company. Orris tells a story every night, and Timble loves a line from a story:

“By the light of the stars, by the light of the moon, I will always return.”

But then, one night as the evening gets dark, Timble doesn’t come. And not the next night either.

Now, the subtitle of the book hints at what happened. But this precipitates a crisis for both friends, and ultimately they come to realize how much their friendship means to each of them.

And it’s all done with Carmen Mok’s gentle illustrations and leaves you feeling warm and cozy. Or perhaps adventurous and ready to fly away – but always to come back.

katedicamillo.com
candlewick.com

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Review of Bad Badger, by Maryrose Wood

Audiobooks, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Bad Badger

by Maryrose Wood
read by Chris Devon

Dreamscape Media, 2025. 2 hours, 41 minutes.
Review written April 24, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Maryrose Wood is good at writing straight-faced stories that gradually get sillier and sillier. This one is perfect for kids ready for chapter books.

Bad Badger is about a badger named Septimus who is afraid that he’s not very good at being a badger. Instead of stripes, he has spots. Instead of living in the forest, he lives in a cottage by the sea. He loves listening to operas in Italian on his phonograph, collecting shells, making omelets, watching the sunset, and other activities not at all usual for badgers.

But then Septimus makes a friend. A seagull comes to his house every week on Wednesday. Gully doesn’t say much besides “Caw,” but Septimus feels their friendship grow and become tremendously important to him – so they share things they each enjoy most.

But when Gully goes missing, Septimus doesn’t know how he will find him, simply that it must be done.

This sweet story is about true friendship and not letting others define who you are.

maryrosewood.com

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Review of My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda, by Bibi Dumon Tak

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda

by Bibi Dumon Tak
illustrated by Annemarie Van Haeringen
translated by Nancy Forest-Flier

Levine Querido, 2025. First published in the Netherlands in 2022. 223 pages.
Review written April 29, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book: Packed with information, and ever so much fun! Also the kind of book that I ordered for the library with a note: “Show to Sondy” so I could figure out if it’s nonfiction or fiction. The answer ended up being Fiction, since it’s full of talking animals. But those animals are telling you Facts! I also immediately placed the book on hold so I could read the whole thing.

Here’s how the book begins:

To Start Off…

These are oral presentations given by animals about other animals. That’s because oral presentations can really be fun, especially when they’re not being given by the human species for once. After all, humans can make presentations super boring.

Why?
Because humans only look at things through their own human eyes.
Every single time.

Human after human.
Kid after kid.
Class after class.

YAWN!

So it’s time to take a fresh look:
Animal after animal.
Here we go!

So what follows is a bunch of animals talking about other animals: A cleaner fish talks about the shark. A blackbird talks about the rose-ringed parakeet. A midwife toad talks about the koala. A zebra tells us about all the pure black-and-white animals. A death’s head hawkmoth talks about the squirrel monkey.

Altogether, twenty animals give presentations about other animals. And the reports are quirky, each from the perspective of the particular animal giving it, sometimes telling more about that animal than about the subject of the report.

After most presentations, there’s time for questions from the animals listening, and those are quirky and interesting, too.

Perfect for kids ready for chapter books, this is all very silly, but packed with facts at the same time.

I usually only find out about translated books after they win Batchelder Award Honor. This time, I’ve got an early favorite for this year’s winner. Find out a bunch of facts about animals and do some laughing, too.

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Free Kid to Good Home, by Hiroshi Ito

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Free Kid to Good Home

by Hiroshi Ito
translated by Cathy Hirano

Gecko Press, 2022. First published in Japan in 1995. 109 pages.
Review written March 1, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a fun book for beginning but confident readers. I’m putting it with beginning chapter books, because it’s about that reading level, but it doesn’t actually have chapters. And there are black, white, and red drawings on every page.

The book begins as a little girl gets a new brother.

He looks just like a potato.

After her mother pays attention only to the potato-face baby, the girl decides to run away and find a new home.

She does this by finding a box and writing “Free Kid” on the box. She sits in the box out where people pass by and tries to look cute.

Adults are busy and don’t pay a lot of attention, but one by one a dog, a cat, and a turtle join her, also looking for a new home. They discuss together what their new home will be like and do have some envy when others are chosen first.

You can guess how the story ends, but the whole thing is a lot of fun.

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Sunny the Shark, by Remy Lai

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Graphic Novel 0

Surviving the Wild

Sunny the Shark

by Remy Lai

Henry Holt and Company, 2022. 108 pages.
Review written January 11, 2023, from a library book

Surviving the Wild is a graphic novel series about endangered animals based on actual things that have happened to animals in the wild. The star of this book, Sunny, is an oceanic whitetip shark who gets a plastic balloon tie wrapped around her in a way she can’t get it off. As she grows, it cuts into her body and even slips over her dorsal fin so she can’t swim properly.

Sunny is accompanied by pilot fish that clean her body and her teeth. But when Sunny stops feeding, so do the pilot fish.

This sweet and short story puts a face on an abstract problem of too much plastic in the ocean and helps kids understand the danger it poses to wildlife. The graphic novel format makes it all the more accessible to young beginning readers.

remylai.com
mackids.com

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Review of Frank and the Bad Surprise, by Martha Brockenbrough, illustrated by Jon Lau

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Frank and the Bad Surprise

by Martha Brockenbrough
illustrated by Jon Lau

Levine Querido, 2022. 64 pages.
Review written December 13, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This is a very beginning chapter book with seven short chapters and pictures on every page. It’s told from the perspective of Frank, a cat who’s happy with his life — until his owners bring home a bad surprise — a big box with a puppy inside.

Frank types them a letter:

To my dear humans:

We do not need the puppy. We were happy with life the way it was before. It is time to take the puppy back.

Sincerely,

Frank

But even though Frank puts the letter in an envelope and the envelope into the mailbox, his owners don’t get rid of the puppy.

When the puppy proves he doesn’t know the rules of naps (Do not disturb Frank!), Frank knows it’s time to find a new home.

But that does not go as planned.

Here’s Frank contemplating what he must do:

The humans would miss Frank. They would miss his plush fur.

They would miss his purrs.

They would miss the tricks he did with feathers on sticks and balls with bells.

But there was nothing to be done.

Yes the story is predictable — all the better for beginning readers — and it’s lots of fun.

A note on the cover says “Book One,” so I’m looking forward to more books about Frank and the puppy.

marthabrockenbrough.com
levinequerido.com

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Review of Juana and Lucas: Muchos Changes

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Juana & Lucas

Muchos Changes

by Juana Medina

Candlewick Press, 2021. 90 pages.
Review written September 28, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

The Juana & Lucas series is one of those exactly-perfect-for-beginning-chapter-book-readers books. There are thirteen short chapters, with friendly, happy, cartoon-like illustrations on each page, and an interesting story about a kid whose life is relatable — though she lives in Bogota, Colombia.

Juana is the one who narrates this book, in a friendly tone, peppered with Spanish words. Lucas is her furry amigo, a little dog who goes everywhere with her that she can bring him. The Spanish words happen throughout the book, but there’s enough context that English-only speakers won’t be confused and may pick up some Spanish.

In the first book, Juana’s Mami got married. In this book, her Mami is going to have a baby. She’s not sure what to think. Her friends tell her that babies make everything complicado.

The other big sopreso of the summer is that Juana’s Mami signed her up for roller skating camp. And none of her friends are there. And on her very first skate by herself across the rink, she tripped on a pebble and skinned her chin. So all the pictures after that show Juana with a scrape on her chin.

But Juana deals with all these things with spunk. Plus the help of her loving family, including her grandparents, and of course Lucas.

The book ends up being a happy story, with vibrant pictures full of motion, and you again feel like you have a friend in this kid from Colombia.

At the back, author Juana Medina shows herself at the character Juana’s age, holding her baby sister.

juanamedina.com
candlewick.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Great Mathemachicken: Hide and Go Beak, by Nancy Krulik, illustrated by Charlie Alder

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

The Great Mathemachicken

Hide and Go Beak

by Nancy Krulik
illustrated by Charlie Alder

Pixel + Ink, 2022. 88 pages.
Review written May 6, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Here’s a silly and fun book about a chicken named Chirpy who wants to go beyond the coop. When she gets the chance to sneak out, she follows the children Randy and Andy onto the big yellow bus to go to school. Once there, she catches a ride on a rolling backpack.

Chirpy rolled into a room full of kids.
Which made her wonder:
At home kids stayed outside the coop.
Chickens stayed inside the coop.
Could school be a kid coop?
If someone saw Chirpy in a kid coop, would they make her leave?
Hmmm. . . .
Chirpy needed a hiding place, just like when the chicks played hide and go beak in the coop.

While Chirpy is hiding in the classroom, she learns basic principles of simple machines.

And when she goes home, those principles may be exactly what the chickens need to catch a fox!

The author and illustrator weren’t going for plausible in this book, but it sure is fun to read. Chirpy the curious chicken, excited about learning everything she can, earns her title of Mathemachicken.

At the back of the book, there are instructions for making your own simple machine, a Whirly-Swirly Wheel-and-Axle Toy. While following Chirpy’s adventures, kids may learn things themselves. The book is marked as Book One, so I’ll be watching for more.

realnancykrulik.com
PixelandInkBooks.com

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Review of Bibsy Cross and the Bike-a-thon, by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Dung Ho

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review 0

Bibsy Cross and the Bike-a-thon

by Liz Garton Scanlon
illustrated by Dung Ho

Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. 112 pages.
Review written October 25, 2024, from a book sent to me by the publisher.

Bibsy Cross and the Bike-a-thon is a new beginning chapter book series about an irrepressible third grader named Bibsy Cross. This is the second one I’ve read.

In this book, Bibsy is excited about taking part in a “Bikes for Bucks for Books” event at the local library – so of course she got a fan here.

Bibsy forms a team with her best friend Natia, and is torn because she very much wants to win a prize for bringing in the most money for the library. Then on the day of the Bike-a-thon, things happen to mess up her plans.

I like Bibsy’s spirit – she has a tendency to raise her hand in class and share so much information that she tries the patience of her teacher. And I like the way her family shares “sweet-and-sours” at the dinner table – sweet things that happened and sour things that happened, and even ways the sour things have something sweet come out of them. And I love the way her parents are sympathetic about everything that happens to Bibsy, sweet or sour.

There are pictures on almost every page of this book, and not a whole lot of words per page, so this book is perfect for a kid building confidence in their reading.

lizgartonscanlon.com
dungho.me
rhcbooks.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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