This story’s got a moral that’s actually true to life.
Three pigs find themselves trying but not always succeeding in this story of perseverance.
They fall out of boats, spin out of control, and often fall down, but in the end, these “pigs in a pickle know what to do. / They try again—they carry through!” In a tale that combines aspects of “This Little Piggy” and “Humpty Dumpty,” Wilhelm’s rhyming text echoes the childhood classics. Impressively, the story conveys its message about perseverance without ending sappily with a success story. In Wilhelm’s take, when you give it your “best shot,” realistically, “sometimes it works… / …and sometimes it does not.” The piggy who falls off the merry-go-round gets back up and tries again—and again he falls off. What a lesson for little readers! Salcedo’s three pigs each have their own distinctive look: one with large glasses, the second with pigtails, and the third with a round tummy. Each illustration is filled with a lot of movement thanks to well-placed lines, swirls, and squiggles, a necessary inclusion given the copious stumbling, twirling, and falling. There is also a lovely level of detail, from the suits on the playing cards to the tiny hose and ladder on the toy fire truck, though this visual complexity gears this book to the older segment of the board-book audience.
This story’s got a moral that’s actually true to life. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7896-7
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
More kit than story, with some assembly required.
Two outings and a game of hide-and-seek in between add up to a perfect day for Peppa and friends in this four-spread TV-series spinoff.
First Peppa and her bubble-gum–pink family ride to the park (“Vroom!” says little George) for a healthy picnic packed by Daddy Pig. Then it’s home for playtime with Danny Dog and Suzy Sheep, until Grandpa Pig arrives with a boat big enough for all (“Ship ahoy!”). Children can embellish this stripped-down plotline on the foldout playscape attached to the back cover. All of the figures in the flat, very simple illustrations also come as punch-outs on a loose sheet, and there are corresponding slots in the detachable pop-up car and boat. Fans of the British series, which runs on Nick Jr. in the United States, may experience several moments of pleasure before the card-stock vehicles are crushed.
More kit than story, with some assembly required. (sticker sheet) (Pop-up/picture book. 3-4)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6825-9
Page Count: 8
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There are enough color-concept books for young children to overflow a crayon box without adding this developmentally...
Illustrator Girard's visually striking work suffers from uninspired text.
The chunky compilation features crisp lines and patterns. Bare of references to Girard's career, the introduction seeks to provide a total visual experience rather than an introduction to the artist. Slight rhyming phrases detract rather than enhance, implying relationships that don't exist. “A daisy in the garden, / green and growing; / multi-colored friends, / where are they going?” illustrates, first, a stylized daisy-woman and then a tiny army of three-dimensional figures, for instance. The flimsy spine proves too weak to support repeated readings of the 58-page book. Some descriptions fail to identify the shades featured in the illustrations (this is a book about colors), and the text itself is often confusing, peppered with oddly placed commas. “Alexander Girard, shows us colors in this book.”
There are enough color-concept books for young children to overflow a crayon box without adding this developmentally inappropriate offering to the mix. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-9344-2977-8
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Ammo
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
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