Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Jon Brokenbrow
Gift Ideas from Cuento de Luz
Featuring 276 industry-first reviews of fiction, nonfiction, children’s, and YA books; also in this issue: the 200 best children’s and 100 best YA books of 2025, author interviews, and much more
MY GUARDIAN | Kirkus Reviews
by Azahara Castillo ; illustrated by Maite García Lliso ; translated by Jon Brokenbrow ‧ A child turns fear into peace while figuring out how to deal with monster-shaped anxiety. The light-skinned, blond-haired girl cowers, hides, and flees from the scribbly black blob. Wherever the child goes, it follows, and she feels alone in her struggle. “I asked other people to help me, but nobody else could see it,” she explains.
AUNTIE MAGGIE AND HER FIVE NEPHEWS AND NIECES
Offbeat and lovely. The weight of carrying problems around just might make you sink. Auntie Maggie has five nieces and nephews, with the delightful names of Timmy, Tammy, Tommy, Tummy, and Temmy. They are all going on an outing to the swimming pool. Auntie Maggie is the first to dive in, plugging her nose and pointing her toes. Timmy’s about to dive in next when he realizes that he forgot his goggles. He leaps onto Aunt Maggie’s back, keeping his head above the water so his eyes don’t get irritated.
OUR GREATEST GIFT
A warmhearted intergenerational read-aloud, calibrated for gifting. This import, translated from Spanish, enumerates the plethora of ways that elders enrich the lives of the children in their families. Presented in the first-person plural and addressed to beloved caregivers, the narrated list runs adulatory. “You’ve shown us that home / is where your family is.
THE FOOTPRINT | Kirkus Reviews
A bit cryptic but ultimately a beautiful and moving tale of friends lost and found. A ginger cat experiences the highs and lows of friendship. The feline arrives at a gathering of wild animals. The cat doesn’t feel like it fits in; in fact, it feels as though the others are afraid of it. But then the cat meets a Jack Russell terrier, and the two become fast friends. One day, the dog has a new pal and no longer wants to be friends with the cat.
WITH A BUTTERFLY'S WINGS
by Seth Meyers ; illustrated by Rob Sayegh Jr. ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2022 Unlikely friends Bear and Rabbit face fears together. The anthropomorphic creatures set out on an adventure. Graphic-based illustrations give the book a Pixar movie feel, with a variety of page layouts that keep the story moving. Large blocks of black text are heavy on dialogue patterns as timid Bear and bold Rabbit encounter obstacles. Bear fears every one of them, from the stream to the mountain.
SOMETHING’S HAPPENING IN THE CITY
by Christian Robinson ; illustrated by Christian Robinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2020 Employing a cast of diverse children reminiscent of that depicted in Another (2019), Robinson shows that every living entity has value. After opening endpapers that depict an aerial view of a busy playground, the perspective shifts to a black child, ponytails tied with beaded elastics, peering into a microscope. So begins an exercise in perspective.
BROTHERS AND SISTERS
by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015 A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon. A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread.
A NEW HARVEST | Kirkus Reviews
by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2018 It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy? When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up.
FOR YOU | Kirkus Reviews
by Maxine Beneba Clarke ; illustrated by Maxine Beneba Clarke ‧ RELEASE DATE: yesterday The author of The Patchwork Bike (illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd, 2016) writes to children about the meaning of the phrase Black Lives Matter.
THE DANCE OF THE BEES
From the Elephant & Piggie series by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov.
MADAM HORTENSIA | Kirkus Reviews
by Brad Meltzer ; illustrated by Dan Santat ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2021 To the consternation of the other six days of the week, Sunday quits in protest, tired of being unappreciated for her consistent delivery of a weekly “beautiful free day.” Sunday’s abrupt decision prompts the others to look for her replacement with an advertisement inviting auditions before the remaining six days.
SON | Kirkus Reviews
by Hallee Adelman ; illustrated by Sandra de la Prada ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2020 Brock may be dressed like a superhero, but he sure doesn’t feel like one, as social anxieties threaten to rain on his fun . Juan’s superhero-themed birthday party is about to start, but Brock is feeling trepidatious about attending without his brother as his trusty sidekick.
2020’s Stellar International Picture Books
Be the first to read books news and see reviews, news and features in Kirkus Reviews. Get awesome content delivered to your inbox every week.
THE KITE OF DREAMS
An obsessed narrator creates an alphabet book overrun with rabbits, much to the chagrin of an owl who wants to create a “proper, respectable” alphabet book. The picture book begins, “A is for A rabbit,” an illustration of a large brown rabbit taking up most of the recto.
BATHING IN THE FOREST
Monster lives in Cutesville, where he feels his googly eyes make him unlovable, especially compared to all the “cute, fluffy” kittens, puppies and bunnies. He goes off to find someone who will appreciate him just the way he is…with funny and heartwarming results. A red, scraggly, pointy-eared, arm-dragging monster with a pronounced underbite clutches his monster doll to one side of his chest, exposing a purplish blue heart on the other. His oversized eyes express his loneliness.
LITTLE ONE by Ariel Andrés Almada , Sonja Wimmer , Jon Brokenbrow
Be the first to discover new talent! Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our Pro Connect email alert. Sign up here to receive your FREE alerts. Email address: Please provide an email address.
FIREFLIES by Roberto Aliaga , Miguel Ángel Díez , Jon Brokenbrow
Be the first to discover new talent! Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our Pro Connect email alert. Sign up here to receive your FREE alerts. Email address: Please provide an email address.
THE LAST TREE by María Quintana Silva , Silvia Álvarez , Jon Brokenbrow
Be the first to discover new talent! Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our Pro Connect email alert. Sign up here to receive your FREE alerts. Email address: Please provide an email address.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Jon
Contact Jon, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack