A simple and delightful board book for many households.
Little ones can guess and name some of the more common human emotions.
Sweetly rendered primates, outlined in black over colored washes, invite toddlers to engage in a game of peekaboo. With the animals’ hands acting as flaps over their faces, children can open them up to reveal their varied expressions. A simple question prompts children to speculate: “How do you think I feel?” “Do you ever feel like me?” When little ones open up the hands, they can guess by the expression they see what the feeling might be. If they don’t know, their adult reader can help out by reading the answer provided on the animal’s palm: “I’m upset”; “I’m sad.” Each primate is depicted against a white background, thus keeping the focus squarely on the animal and the peekaboo game. The emotions to be explored are: happy, upset, sad, angry, scared, surprised, and silly. When children open the last pair of hands they will find a mirror in which they can see their own reflection. The statement “Show me how you feel!” prompts children to put on any expression they choose. What fun! The book doesn’t provide the name of each primate, so interested readers will have to do a little research. The hands and ears that accompany the mirror are peachy-pink, making it less than perfectly inclusive.
A simple and delightful board book for many households. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-6626-5038-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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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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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