“Squid in Pants” got a nice write-up in Elizabeth (Betsy) Bird’s 2025 SLJ 31 Day roundup of recommended books in the category of rhyming picture books. Full article is here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/12/05/31-days-31-lists-2025-rhyming-picture-books/ Review text is below! SQUID IN PANTS resources are HERE.

“Oh, Squid in Pants. How did you fly under my radar for so long? The name Kaz Windness perhaps sounds familiar for any number of reasons. You may know her from her TikTok videos, where she has become one of the great anti-AI activists. You may know her from her truly extraordinary (and Geisel Honor-winning) Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends. Now she turns her eyes seaside and part of what I really admire about this book (aside from the concept, which I think is original and inspired) is how consistent she is with keeping the words in this easy book simple. Yes, there are some somewhat complicated words like “clothing” and “underwear” in there, but for the most part they’re fairly short and they rhyme well! “Four friends, one boat. / Two socks, one coat.” Squid, as the title might suggest, is all about clothing. When a boy changes out of his clothes to go snorkling, that’s when Squid’s moment arrives. He and his friend adapt, cut, color, and generally rework everything from the boy’s pants to shirt. The boy, for the record, returns to take them back so they make a deal to swap the boy’s underwear for the bespoke clothes (which he finds quite fab, eel bows and all). Part of the allure is, of course, the fun concept, but Windness really goes all out on the colors, details, and general underwater feel. Oh, and there are jokes! Can’t go wrong with jokes. Okay, you can go wrong, but she doesn’t.”

12/12/25 Squid Again! In the Easy (Early) Reader Category:

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2025 Easy Books