A swashbuckling way to learn the ABCs, full of appealing illustrations and rich vocabulary.
A pirate-themed board-book alphabet adventure.
“A is for ahoy, matey!” and “B is for booty,” while “X marks the spot,” and “Y is for yo-ho-ho!” These simple statements, with two letters per spread, stay true to the motif, with vibrant illustrations depicting adult and kid pirates. The letter and word pairs feel natural, and many will expose readers to potentially new vocabulary: fleet, galley, rigging, truce, and unfurl. Each illustration tells a short story in and of itself. “Walk the plank,” for example, is a silly summertime scene, complete with swimsuits, floaties, and a guitar-strumming captain. All of the images are child-friendly; on a page labeled “M is for mayhem,” kids throw water balloons at one another instead of shooting off cannons, and on “O is for overboard,” no one is hurled off the ship; rather, they splash about in the water beside the vessel, surrounded by inflatable toys. Readers will delight in seeking out the monkey engaged in goofy shenanigans who can be found on each page. The characters are diverse in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A swashbuckling way to learn the ABCs, full of appealing illustrations and rich vocabulary. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-4236-6153-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gibbs Smith
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
Caregivers eager to expose their children to fine art have better choices than this.
From “Apple” to “Zebra,” an alphabet of images drawn from museum paintings.
In an exhibition that recalls similar, if less parochial, ABCs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (My First ABC, 2009) and several other institutions, Hahn presents a Eurocentric selection of paintings or details to illustrate for each letter a common item or animal—all printed with reasonable clarity and captioned with identifying names, titles, and dates. She then proceeds to saddle each with an inane question (“What sounds do you think this cat is making?” “Where can you find ice?”) and a clumsily written couplet that unnecessarily repeats the artist’s name: “Flowers are plants that blossom and bloom. / Frédéric Bazille painted them filling up this room!” She also sometimes contradicts the visuals, claiming that the horses in a Franz Marc painting entitled “Two Horses, 1912” are ponies, apparently to populate the P page. Moreover, her “X” is an actual X-ray of a Jean-Honoré Fragonard, showing that the artist repainted his subject’s face…interesting but not quite in keeping with the familiar subjects chosen for the other letters.
Caregivers eager to expose their children to fine art have better choices than this. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5107-4938-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
A timely message in the wrong format.
This book delivers a message on the power of collective action.
As the book opens, a child looks at a lone star shining in the sky: “One star shines as distant light.” After the turn of the page, the child now sees what looks like the Milky Way: “And when stars shine together, they make our galaxy.” The book goes on to give a number of similar examples to reinforce the message of the power that comes from working together, ending with: “One of us can speak up for justice / And when we speak up together we create a world of possibility.” In the current atmosphere of strife and discord that divides our country, this is certainly a welcome message. Perhaps, though, the board-book set is not the right audience. As a picture book aimed at a slightly older group with an information page at the end explaining some of the illustrations, it might work well. As it is, however, some of the visual references will merely puzzle a toddler—and some adults. For example, a group of angry-looking people raising their fists and singing together may not look like “harmony” to a toddler—unless they know about the New Zealand haka. There is an unexplained frog motif that runs through the book that may also mystify readers. Nagara’s brilliant illustrations portray people of many ethnic backgrounds.
A timely message in the wrong format. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64421-084-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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