Suffice to say, if Tullet can conceive it, adults and children will both enjoy it.
Tullet continues to expand his Let’s Play Games! series.
Publishing simultaneously with three other books, the titular game is simple enough for young children to enjoy but complex enough to keep design-oriented adults engaged (and therefore reading with their children). Split pages combine in multiple wordless combinations to illustrate prepositions—on, under, above, below, etc. The images line up neatly, sometimes creating surprising juxtapositions, from an acrobat balanced on a mountaintop to an elephant carrying a truck to a finger pointing at a camel. Bright, primary colors and thick, black lines make for arresting, attention-getting compositions. The Game of Lines features split pages cut on an angle and shocking yellow and pink lines that create myriad patterns; it will capture the attention of even very young babies. The Good Morning Game comes with instructions to adults to draw faces on their fingers, sticking them through die-cut holes in each page as puppets—ideal for playing with children ready for text. The Trail Game also features split pages and is the least successful of the quartet; the trails do not always line up, making for a simple matching game.
Suffice to say, if Tullet can conceive it, adults and children will both enjoy it. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7148-6874-5
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Phaidon
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
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
As with many holiday gifts, the sparkly packaging may interest toddlers more than what’s inside.
Readers can count down eight of Santa's reindeer as they jump up and out of the scene.
In each one of the mostly double-page spreads, one reindeer, from Dasher to Blitzen, plays a central role in a winter activity (sledding, ski jumping, ice skating—and soccer and yoga?) that launches the creature into the air. Glitter-speckled tabs, each with small portraits of a member of Santa's herd, appear at either the top or the right side of each page, which little fingers will enjoy flipping. In what looks to be pencil-and-watercolor cartoons, Rogers uses different facial expressions, as well as collars, bows or other accessories, to distinguish the reindeer from one another. Donner (not Donder) and Blitzen are squeezed together on the penultimate spread, likely to keep the page count down. The verse mostly scans, but the rhyme scheme has become the cliché of counting books: "Eight jolly reindeer / stretching up to heaven. / Up goes Dasher / and then there are... // Seven...." Santa, his iconic sleigh and the eight reindeer in flight make a dramatic and required appearance on the book's final double-page spread.
As with many holiday gifts, the sparkly packaging may interest toddlers more than what’s inside. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-65145-5
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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