An engaging romp from start to finish.
A dog and a cat separately awaken to a day full of promise and an interesting world to explore.
Indoors, a gray dog arises from a purple cushion. Elsewhere, a striped, orange tabby leaves its green cushion, performing a quintessentially catlike stretch. Each creature heads outdoors. The dog pauses to check out a butterfly and a bee, then a squirrel sitting on a fence. The cat’s fancy is caught by a red watering can, then by two blue jays looking on with wary interest. The dog chases the squirrel, and the cat chases the birds up the same large tree with spreading, leafy branches. Stymied, the two pets gaze at a hollow in the trunk that, frightfully, appears occupied. It is! The occupant—an owl—peers after the cat and dog as they flee. Back home, they return to the safety of their cozy cushions. Readers will enjoy the surprising twist ending, and the sight of a raccoon peering through the glass-paned door promises new adventures. Beautifully crafted, this tale leaves space for children to fill in the story and to practice reading others’ emotions and intentions. Are the dog and cat friends? What are they looking for? Do they find it? Did the owl scare them (or vice versa)? Consisting mostly of verbs, the text guides and hints but lets children—like the animal characters—make their own discoveries. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An engaging romp from start to finish. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-290-8
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
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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Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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