Children with easily annoyed or embarrassed parents will love it.
Sophie la girafe thinks it might be a good day to take a walk—but her friends have other ideas.
Designed along the same lines as Sophie’s Big Noisy Day Book (2015) but, improbably, even more raucous, the episode features bursts of loud and uncurtailable motor noises, horns, or sirens from a chip in the back (which requires three batteries to power). Each one is activated by lifting a flap on successive spreads to reveal another of Sophie’s friends in a car or other wheeled conveyance. Rather than promoting the benefits of getting around on two (or in the case of Sophie and friends, who are all animal toys, four) legs, Sophie bows to majority will at the end and opts for a drive rather than a walk. Off she goes in her “noisy car” with a “Beep! Beep! Brrm! Brrrrrm!” As the sounds are light-activated, not only will they not reliably work in a dim setting, but in brighter ones, one or two passes will leave the flaps sufficiently ajar that just turning the pages will set off engine roars and persistent honks.
Children with easily annoyed or embarrassed parents will love it. (Novelty/board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4654-5375-4
Page Count: 12
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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