It's Kirby Time is a series of picture books in the Kirby franchise. The first book, Sweet Dreams, Kirby, was released in Japan on December 6, 2019. Tying into the franchise's 30th anniversary and the release of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Nintendo uploaded read-alongs of the books in multiple languages on their official YouTube channel.
Books in the It's Kirby Time series:
- Sweet Dreams, Kirby
(2019) - The Gift of a Star (2019)
- Take Courage (2020)
- Kirby's Tiny World (2020)
- Thank You (2020)
- A Hug From Kirby (2021)
- Together with Kirby (2022)
This book series contains examples of:
- All-Natural Gem Polish: In Kirby's Tiny World, Kirby and his friends find shiny rocks in various shapes, including stars and various gem cuts.
- But Now I Must Go: At the end of Together with Kirby, the flower that had been growing on Kirby's head has turned into a seed head and tells Kirby its puffs must now be scattered on the wind to see the world. However, one puff takes root just outside of Kirby's house.
- The Cameo:
- Kirby's Tiny World has several appearances ranging from named characters, some of whom have only shown up once or twice in the series, to recurring mooks. The majority of them go unmentioned by the narration, leaving them as nods for fans of the series.
- Whispy Woods, Bronto Burt, Poppy Bro Jr., Grizzo, Gordo, Jammerjab, and Magolor show up when playing hide-and-seek in the forest.
- Scarfy, Chilly, Knuckle Joe and Rocky are among the friends Kirby goes treasure hunting with.
- Bonkers goes to the watermelon patch with Kirby.
- Kirby and Waddle Dee ride on Fatty Whale along a body of water. Acro, Squishy, Mamatee and some Blippers can be seen swimming alongside them.
- Kirby, King Dedede, Waddle Dee, Waddle Doo, and Bouncy get chased out of a scary forest by Tedhaun, some Skullies, and a Spookstep.
- Nago is among the friends throwing paper airplanes with Kirby.
- Adeleine and Gooey can be seen helping Kirby fixing the Star that fell from the sky in The Gift of a Star.
- Kirby's Tiny World has several appearances ranging from named characters, some of whom have only shown up once or twice in the series, to recurring mooks. The majority of them go unmentioned by the narration, leaving them as nods for fans of the series.
- Christmas Episode: The Gift of a Star, where Kirby is looking to decorate the top of Dream Land's Christmas tree with a star. It is an Orphaned Etymology as Jesus and Christianity as a whole are completely absent in the Kirby universe, despite Christmas being explicitly mentioned rather than a similar winter solstice holiday made specifically to fit within the Kirby universe. However, as the Kirby franchise as a whole is Japanese in origin and Christmas in Japan is a wholly secular affair, this is not meant to be viewed in any religious sense.
- Determinator: In Take Courage, Kirby refuses to give up his search for the heart fruit, whether he's exhausted from trekking through a jungle, freezing while traveling through an icy land, or climbing up a mountain in sweltering heat.
- Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables: The heart fruit, which is the objective of Kirby's quest in Take Courage, is said to fill its eater's heart with courage.
- Foreshadowing: In Kirby's Tiny World, paper airplanes can be seen in every picture. Towards the end of the book, Kirby and his friends launch paper airplanes into the horizon together.
- The Ghost: Adeleine's special someone in "A Hug from Kirby" is never revealed.
- Greater Need Than Mine: At the end of Take Courage, Kirby is prepared to sit down and eat the heart fruit he worked so hard to get, but right before he can begin, he sees a weary traveler who's sitting in front of a precarious log bridge. In response, he goes over and gives them the heart fruit instead.
- Heavy Sleeper: Whether it's an invitation to play or being offered delicious pancakes, Kirby doesn't wake up for anything in Sweet Dreams, Kirby.
- Lighter and Softer: Though the games are already very light and whimsical, the books go further with all the characters, even those who are enemies in the games, being on friendly terms.
- No Antagonist: No character makes any trouble for anyone else in Take Courage, Kirby's Tiny World, or Sweet Dreams, Kirby.
- Title Drop: In Take Courage, Kirby decides to give a disheartened traveling Waddle Dee the heart fruit instead of eating it himself (after going through the whole story's duration of hardships to get it), telling the Waddle Dee "Take Courage".
