Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

A heartwarming adoption story from a new big sister's perspective.The lyrical text opens with Caroline, a child of color with light brown skin and straight, dark hair, wakening on the titular "most unusual day" and feeling out-of-sorts. A photo on her bedside table (also seen on the title page) shows her with three adults—her parents and her grandmother, a multiracial family. Her mother has similar hair but lighter skin than Caroline's, while her father and grandmother resemble each other with darker brown skin and curly, black hair. Caroline's grandmother is staying with her while her parents are away, but it's not immediately clear why this is so. The sensitive text and expressive, gestural art make plain, however, that Caroline is distracted and uneasy as she awaits their return. The reason for Caroline's fretfulness is revealed when her parents pick her up from school with "a bundle from far, far away." This bundle is Caroline's new sister, who looks a lot like her, and the words "from far, far away" suggest she's a transnational adoptee. While the text doesn't definitively identify Caroline as an adoptee, her resemblance to her sister and not their parents may prompt this interpretation. As so very many adoption stories feature white parents with children of color, this acknowledgment that adoptive families come in as many variations as the general population is most welcome.An unusually good adoption book. (Picture book. 3-6)

ALA Booklist (Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

There's a sweetness to this story of Caroline's topsy-turvy day, one that comes from the quiet understanding of classmates and her teacher. Caroline is disorganized, forgetful, distracted at school, and also clumsy, but there's a good reason, and everyone seems to understand. Goodale's illustrations clue readers in to the special nature of this day: a small airplane appears in the sky of the front cover and end pages, and Caroline creates a broccoli family at school. The repetition of certain words, like today, remind us just how important this day is, while a double-page spread of a wall clock emphasizes waiting. There's minimal background in the illustrations, which focus primarily on Caroline, who is always in motion (eyes will follow her red shoes and eyeglasses). Caroline's special day ends with suitcases in the backseat of a car and a baby sister who has come from far away. On the final page, the multiracial family circles their new addition. A lovely, charming addition to the growing canon of adoption stories.

Horn Book

Morning arrives, and Caroline can't get herself out of bed. There is something coming later that day, and the anticipation is affecting her. Mallery and Goodale skillfully embed clues throughout the text and illustrations. Mallery's calm but full-of-undercurrents text and Goodale's warm colors and use of texture sustain the suspense, until at book's end we learn why it's an unusual day: Caroline meets her adopted baby sister.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A heartwarming adoption story from a new big sister's perspective.The lyrical text opens with Caroline, a child of color with light brown skin and straight, dark hair, wakening on the titular "most unusual day" and feeling out-of-sorts. A photo on her bedside table (also seen on the title page) shows her with three adults—her parents and her grandmother, a multiracial family. Her mother has similar hair but lighter skin than Caroline's, while her father and grandmother resemble each other with darker brown skin and curly, black hair. Caroline's grandmother is staying with her while her parents are away, but it's not immediately clear why this is so. The sensitive text and expressive, gestural art make plain, however, that Caroline is distracted and uneasy as she awaits their return. The reason for Caroline's fretfulness is revealed when her parents pick her up from school with "a bundle from far, far away." This bundle is Caroline's new sister, who looks a lot like her, and the words "from far, far away" suggest she's a transnational adoptee. While the text doesn't definitively identify Caroline as an adoptee, her resemblance to her sister and not their parents may prompt this interpretation. As so very many adoption stories feature white parents with children of color, this acknowledgment that adoptive families come in as many variations as the general population is most welcome.An unusually good adoption book. (Picture book. 3-6)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Everything is off-kilter for Caroline from the moment Grandma wakes her. In their rush for the bus, they forget her socks and her lunch box (-Her feet were sweaty and she had to eat school lunch-); she overfeeds the class goldfish; and she spills the paint water while cleaning up the art center. Small moments offer clues for all of this discombobulation: at lunch, Caroline lines up a tiny pea next to mom-, dad-, and daughter-sized stalks of broccoli, and in class, she practices feeding a baby doll. At last, her parents arrive carrying a -bundle from far, far away--a new baby sister, who immediately grasps Caroline-s finger, winning her over. Mallery, a poet, makes expert use of rhythm and repetition to give a palpable sense of Caroline-s anxiety, anticipation, and final acceptance, while Goodale-s (Windows) standout ink-and-watercolor digital collages reflect both the particulars of a child-s world and the sweeping enormity of her feelings. An adoption story from the fresh viewpoint of an older sister, Mallery-s debut captures a child-s universal feelings with remarkable warmth and sensitivity. Ages 4-8. Author-s agent: Douglas Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic. Illustrator-s agent: Lori Kilkelly, Rodeen Literary Management. (Apr.)