Free Kid to Good HomeReview posted April 26, 2025.
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.