Toddlers won’t sit still for all 16 spreads but they will come back again and again to name the objects they play with every...
Looking for suggestions for stocking a preschool toy box? Use this sturdy board book as a guide.
Common toys are organized in broad categories: cars and trucks, blocks, trains, and farm and wild animals. More whimsical categories include a dollhouse, water-play toys, things that fly, and space toys. Only “Dressing Up” includes photos of children: an Asian child playing doctor and a blond, white child proudly flexing superhero muscles. (Both have short hair.) Other dress-up costumes include a tutu, crown, pirate hat and eye patch, and clown shoes. The other spreads are gender-neutral; none of the toys are identified as being for boys or girls. Labels help expand vocabulary. For example, on the “Picnic time” page there are two teddy bears, one “sitting,” one “standing.” Several spreads invite active participation. The names of six different types of balls run across the top of that spread with colorful ribbons connecting each word to the corresponding ball. Pages devoted to art and garden tools, musical instruments, and even modeling clay may prompt caregivers to entrust their charges with these activities.
Toddlers won’t sit still for all 16 spreads but they will come back again and again to name the objects they play with every day. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4654-5677-9
Page Count: 36
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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