Month: July 2025

Picture books based on novels

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

The Wild Robot on the Island by Peter Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 48 pages, grades K-3). “Everything was just right on the Island. And then a strange new creature appeared.” For those few remaining individuals who haven’t read one of The Wild Robot books or seen the award-winning film, the new creature is Roz, a robot who has washed up on the island following a shipwreck. This picture book captures the essence of the story, including Roz’s ability to program herself to move and speak like the other animals and her motherly relationship with Brightbill the gosling. As the seasons change, Brightbill grows up, and when fall comes, he migrates south with the flock of geese. Roz protects the other animals through a hard winter, all the while wondering about her son. When spring returns, so do the geese, and after a happy reunion, “Everything was just right on the Island.”

Odder: An Otter’s Story by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by Charles Santoso (Feiwel and Friends, 40 pages, grades K-3). Odder is a playful otter whose adventurous nature sometimes gets her into trouble. Based on the novel, which was inspired by two otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, this picture book tells the story of Odder’s two rescues by aquarium staff. The first time, she’s separated from her mother and gets washed up on the beach. After a period of rehabilitation, she’s released back into the wild, but her fearlessness results in a shark attack, landing her back at the aquarium for good. As a permanent resident, Odder helps young otters who have been rescued by serving as a mentor, teaching them how to play and hunt until they are ready to be released back into the wild. Includes a photo and additional information about the real otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

My cynical side is always a bit suspicious of picture books based on novels: are publishers just trying to milk more profits from a successful middle grade book, or are they genuinely interested in sharing a good story with younger readers? Both of these efforts feel pretty genuine, but The Wild Robot is a more successful adaptation than Odder. It captures the essence of the story with just a sentence or two on each page but leaves the details to the longer book. The Odder retelling seems a little too ambitious, especially since there are two separate rescues, and the story feels too long and somewhat confusing. Both books have beautiful illustrations, and I especially enjoyed seeing Roz’s world portrayed in vivid color.

A pair of books for the first day of school

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

When You Go to Dragon School by Chelsea M. Campbell, illustrated by Charlene Chua (Feiwel and Friends, 32 pages, ages 3-8). When the local school is too full, a group of kids decide to go to dragon school instead. The narrator tells them what they’ll learn: breathing fire, sleeping on piles of gold, sharpening claws and polishing scales, and flying in formation. But wait a minute–kids can’t do those things! The narrator admits that the dragons might think the kids are too squishy and kind of weird for not being able to do breathe fire or fly. But, wait again–maybe the kids could teach the dragons how to make s’mores with their fire. Or make a pillow fort on that pile of gold. Or fly on their backs to help them with their synchronized flights. So don’t worry, the narrator concludes, everyone’s going to love you.

Striking just the right tone for first-time students, this book acknowledges anxieties while encouraging kids to use their own strengths to make friends and enjoy all aspects of school. The smiling dragons are cute and welcoming and not the least bit scary.

First Day Around the World by Ibi Zoboi, illustrated by Juanita Londoño (Versify, 48 pages, grades 1-4). Kids around the world recount the different parts of the first day of school. As the sun rises over eastern Africa, children wake up and greet each other in Swahili. Moving west, we see students in Mali and Senegal traveling to school on foot and by boat. As the day goes on, readers travel to the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the rest of the world’s continents (even Antarctica!) as kids around the globe share the foods they eat, the history they learn, the languages they speak, and the customs they observe. As the sun sets in Alaska, a sleepy child gets tucked into bed, ready to rest and prepare for another day of learning. Includes an author’s note recounting her school days in Haiti and the United States.

I love the idea of this book, and the text and colorful illustrations introduce a wide range of places and schools. I wish there had been maps on each page to show the locations, with a world map at the end to put it all together. I also had high hopes for this being a good read-aloud at the beginning of school, but I think the length and introduction of so much new information could make it difficult to keep kids’ attention.

Productive poops and undersea whoops

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Worm Makes a Sandwich by Brianne Farley (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 32 pages, ages 4-8). When a worm offers to make the reader a sandwich, it acknowledges that it seems like an impossible task. But give Worm some garbage, and it will eat and poop, and so will some of its friends, like snails, slugs, beetles, and millipedes. All that poop makes for some rich compost, which can then be added to the garden soil. And the soil helps grow tomatoes, which–you guessed it–can be made into a delicious sandwich. Includes additional information on composting.

Worm is a good narrator to introduce composting and gardening to the youngest readers, and the illustrations do a great job of showing each step in the process. Worm’s claim on the cover that it will make a sandwich “all by myself!” may be a bit misleading, since many other insects as well as a human gardener are shown facilitating the process, but Worm definitely plays a vital role.

What Fish Are Saying: Strange Sounds in the Ocean by Kirsten Pendreigh, illustrated by Katie Melrose (Sourcebooks Explore, 40 pages, ages 4-8). As a child and adult paddle their kayak, enjoying some peace interspersed with a few quiet sounds, they wonder if there’s noise under the water. The answer is a rousing yes, as the rhyming text moves undersea where creatures grunt, groan, squeal, burp, and more. We find out how and why they make noise, and why sound works so well under the water. The repeating refrain “It’s noisy down below” concludes the book with a two-page spread showing all their animals and their sounds. Includes two pages of additional information about undersea noises.

Kids will love these catchy rhymes, fascinating facts, and gorgeous colored illustrations of the busy (and noisy) undersea world. The book would make a great mentor text for teaching onomatopoeia. Some of the rhymes seemed just a syllable too long or short, so I would review it a couple of times before attempting to read it aloud.