Cute animals and felt tabs can’t redeem this confusing effort.
A cheerful teal-blue mouse greets an orange monkey, a red lion, a pink flamingo, a blue elephant, and a yellow giraffe.
The animals are not named. Instead, four-line rhymes describe an emotion sometimes associated with the predominate color on the page. So “orange is excitement”; red corresponds to bravery; “pink is oh-so-playful”; blue is (predictably) sadness; and “yellow is bright happiness.” The rhymes mostly scan, though the toddler audience may not understand the similes embedded in each verse to explain abstract concepts. Only five colors are featured rather than the typical crayon-box eight. In companion title Let’s Play, Funny Flamingo (published simultaneously) each of the nine animals included rates only two lines as the verses explore opposites. Felt tabs embedded in the pages of both books help little people turn the pages. However, the positioning of the tabs in Happy Giraffe places them after the corresponding color. So, for example, when a child grasps the orange tab and turns the page, the page revealed is all about red. The real purpose of both books is to extol the virtue of friendship, a message that’s almost lost amid the lessons about colors and feelings. Still, finding the mouse on each spread can become a game for young children.
Cute animals and felt tabs can’t redeem this confusing effort. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68010-610-7
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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