That Always Happens Sometimes

by Kiley Frank, K-Fai Steele (Illustrator)

Overview

Max is not exactly a perfect kid.  From sunup through his school day and right until bedtime, he’s goofy, disorganized, and generally uncontainable—much to the frustration of those around him. But when a little enthusiasm and creativity are in order, you can count on Max to save the day!

Do you have a list of things to do every morning before school, but you get...distracted? Or maybe you're the only one with tennis balls on the feet of your chair and your teacher has to remind you to keep your sounds to yourself? Or maybe you like to listen to the way water sloshes in your stomach when you run down the hall, slo-mo, after the water fountain?

That always happens sometimes to Max in this warm, hilarious picture book that humorously chronicles the pitfalls and celebrates the successes of a very familiar kid...one who may not be the most compliant or organized but who is full of energy, creativity, and kindness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984852458
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/02/2024
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kiley Frank is a a writer and freelance editor living in upstate New York. Her debut picture book, Tomorrow is Waiting, received many accolades. She worked in publishing for six years before leaving the NYC area. You can find her reading to her four children and coaching a battle of the books team for middle schoolers.

K-Fai Steele is an author-illustrator who grew up in a house built in the 1700s with a printing press her father bought from a magician. She wrote and illustrated A Normal Pig and All Eyes on Ozzy! and has illustrated several other books. She was a James Marshall Fellow at the University of Connecticut, a Brown Handler Writer in Residence at the San Francisco Public Library, and an Ezra Jack Keats/Kerlan Memorial Fellow at the University of Minnesota.

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2024

For Max, the kid who narrates this story by Frank (Tomorrow Is Waiting), school mornings slide off track when distractions, like squirrels outside the window, fly in the face of a get-ready list. Per the title, it’s the kind of event “that always, always happens sometimes.” Max’s classroom to-do list (“keep hands to myself”) is often forgotten, and tennis balls quiet the feet of only Max’s chair (“I used to get in trouble for the sounds my chair makes, but now I only get in trouble for the sounds that I make”). Engaging questions hint at the child’s internality: “Have you ever abandoned your lunch because you were thinking about having an extra face under your hair like some Lego figures do?” In watercolor, ink, and pencil drawings with bold black lines, Steele (The Brilliant Ms. Bangle) includes lots of boisterous detail as Max’s teacher asks small groups of students, portrayed with various skin tones, to build a tower with “index cards, a twenty-four-inch piece of masking tape, and a pair of safety scissors.” It’s, at last, something that “has never happened before,” and Max’s creativity results in a classroom triumph—and a heady moment for a memorable voice. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Miriam Altshuler, DeFiore and Company. Illustrator’s agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

★ "A deeply satisfying tale of a square peg who finds a way to triumph." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A heady moment for a memorable voice." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 2024-04-05
A day in the life of a well-meaning child who’s somehow never far from trouble.

Young Max spits out too-hot oatmeal and makes a huge mess, forgets to get dressed, and misses the bus after being distracted by the sight of squirrels devouring an old jack-o’-lantern outside. At school, Max has a long to-do list (“Keep hands to myself”; “Don’t keep my sweatshirts here overnight”). Max’s teacher, Ms. Fitzmorris, winks encouragingly when Max hands in homework, and when Max plays a leading role in a group project that involves building a tower out of index cards, she’s thrilled. Frank writes in long, stream-of-consciousness sentences, capturing Max’s boundless excitement. (“Have you ever wanted to play on everything so badly that the only solution is for your body to explode into a bunch of different pieces, which is impossible to do safely?”) She offers a realistic yet sensitive portrait of a child who’s often a little out of step with the rest of the world but who’s undeniably perceptive and thoughtful—and who’s lucky enough to have a sympathetic adult who sees that. Many neurodivergent readers will recognize themselves in Max. Steele’s thick-lined watercolor, ink, and pencil illustrations brim with Max’s unbridled energy; each scene feels almost like a story, featuring details for attentive viewers to pick out. Max presents Asian, while Ms. Fitzmorris is brown-skinned; the class is diverse.

A deeply satisfying tale of a square peg who finds a way to triumph. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews