BUDDY'S BEDTIME BATTERY

Name: BUDDY'S BEDTIME BATTERY
Author: Christina Geist
ISBN: 978-0-553-51339-4

by Christina Geist ; illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 27, 2016

Searchers of progressive muscle-relaxation books for children will find this choice interesting, but readers after robot...

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Imagination and progressive relaxation are the key to powering down little Buddy, the boy “robot.”

With spiky blond hair and chubby pink cheeks, Buddy looks in the mirror at his new robot pajamas and proclaims, “BEEP! My battery is on! I can walk and talk!” As bedtime approaches, Robo-Mom turns on her techno-voice and orders Ro-Buddy to turn on his “jumping button” until his “turbo charger” is worn out. The science-fiction dialogue continues through a trip to the family bathroom for a visit to the “space station potty.” When Robo-Dad commands, “Time to activate your cuddle pod,” the toddler climbs into bed while his parents start to “power down” each part of Buddy’s very active body. “Ro-Buddy, please turn off your legs. BEEP! BEEP! Be still, legs. Be still.” The techno-themed scenery and language are kept to a minimum, offering just enough to give it an imaginative flavor; the center of the book focuses on relaxation. With gentle and methodical repetition, each wiggly part is powered down and ordered to be still: legs, bottom, belly, arms, and face. Bowers’ illustrations have a laser focus on Buddy, capturing the active hands and feet of a toddler playing make-believe. Overall, the storyline and pictures are a typical parenting go-to-bed book rather than one for true robot fans.

Searchers of progressive muscle-relaxation books for children will find this choice interesting, but readers after robot fare should look elsewhere. (Picture book. 2-4)

Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-553-51339-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BUDDY'S NEW BUDDY
by Christina Geist ; illustrated by Tim Bowers

- BOOK REVIEW
SORRY, GROWN-UPS, YOU CAN'T GO TO SCHOOL!
by Christina Geist ; illustrated by Tim Bowers

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IN THE WIND

by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016

A gentle outing for children who are ready for stories of everyday life rather than just objects to name.

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A brief rhyming board book for toddlers.

Spurr's earlier board books (In the Garden and At the Beach, both 2012; In the Woods, 2013) featured an adventuresome little boy. Her new slice-of-life story stars an equally joyful little girl who takes pleasure in flying a new kite while not venturing far off the walkway. Oliphant's expressive and light-filled watercolors clearly depict the child's emotions—eager excitement on the way to the park, delight at the kite's flight in the wind, shock when the kite breaks free, dejection, and finally relief and amazement. The rhymes work, though uneven syllable counts in some stanzas interrupt the smooth flow of the verse. The illustrations depict the child with her mass of windblown curls, brown skin, and pronounced facial features as African-American. Her guardian (presumably her mother) is also brown-skinned. It is refreshing to see an African-American family settled comfortably in a suburban setting with single-family homes and a park where the family dog does not need to be leashed.

A gentle outing for children who are ready for stories of everyday life rather than just objects to name. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: March 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-56145-854-7

Page Count: 22

Publisher: Peachtree

Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
IN THE RAIN
by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant

- BOOK REVIEW
IN THE SNOW
by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant

- BOOK REVIEW
AT THE BEACH
by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant

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GOODNIGHT, NUMBERS

by Danica McKellar ; illustrated by Alicia Padrón ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2017

The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon.

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This bedtime book offers simple rhymes, celebrates the numbers one through 10, and encourages the counting of objects.

Each double-page spread shows a different toddler-and-caregiver pair, with careful attention to different skin tones, hair types, genders, and eye shapes. The pastel palette and soft, rounded contours of people and things add to the sleepy litany of the poems, beginning with “Goodnight, one fork. / Goodnight, one spoon. / Goodnight, one bowl. / I’ll see you soon.” With each number comes a different part in a toddler’s evening routine, including dinner, putting away toys, bathtime, and a bedtime story. The white backgrounds of the pages help to emphasize the bold representations of the numbers in both written and numerical forms. Each spread gives multiple opportunities to practice counting to its particular number; for example, the page for “four” includes four bottles of shampoo and four inlaid dots on a stool—beyond the four objects mentioned in the accompanying rhyme. Each home’s décor, and the array and types of toys and accoutrements within, shows a decidedly upscale, Western milieu. This seems compatible with the patronizing author’s note to adults, which accuses “the media” of indoctrinating children with fear of math “in our country.” Regardless, this sweet treatment of numbers and counting may be good prophylaxis against math phobia.

The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon. (Picture book. 2-4)