Engaging, appealing, and validating—social-emotional learning done right.
The adorable anthropomorphic cloud introduced in Ploof (2023) returns for more interactive fun.
Ploof is ready to create a rainbow but needs some help. An unseen narrator asks readers to lend a hand: “Let’s begin with a rainbow shape. Do you see any?” “Can you try blocking the wind?” Children become an integral part of moving the plot forward as they “mix” colors for the rainbow and provide Ploof with words of encouragement. The rainbow doesn’t turn out how Ploof wanted it to, so readers give the cloud a moment to cry (rain falls from Ploof) and take deep breaths. The book ends on a positive note with an invitation to play again. Ploof is a sweet and approachable little cloud, with large eyes and a simple smile. Set against a pale blue background, the puffy cumulus paints the sky with swaths of pastel rainbow colors. Not only are the questions and physical interactions a nice fit for the toddler and preschool crowd, but the story also offers sound guidance on coping with uncomfortable feelings. It’s an ideal option for caregivers to read aloud one-on-one and for teachers to share with a group of students.
Engaging, appealing, and validating—social-emotional learning done right. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781774881941
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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