Not the best for clarifying concepts but too visually striking to ignore.
An appealing but potentially confusing concept book about opposites.
Cheerful animal characters help to present basic opposites such as big/small and fast/slow. Initially, it seems that the size of the print is supposed to help convey meaning—on the first spread “Big,” accompanying the picture of an elephant, is printed in enormous letters, while “Small” appears in diminutive type next to a bee, and in the second spread, “Loud” appears in large type next to a group of monkeys, while “Quiet” is printed in tiny letters next to a butterfly. The pattern doesn’t hold up, though, as the next page arbitrarily presents “Hairy” in large type and “Smooth” in small print. Confusion appears elsewhere as well; for example, the “loud” monkeys, with mouths closed, appear more serene than raucous. With an adult to help sort out the concepts, though, children will enjoy this title for its standout illustrations; bold, appealing animals are set in interesting positions on solid backgrounds that appear as though they might have been colored by crayon. A companion title, Counting, presents more adorable animals to illustrate numerical concepts and asks readers to identify and count them.
Not the best for clarifying concepts but too visually striking to ignore. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-58925-586-9
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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