Ideal for young listeners and beginning readers who are making their first word associations.
Another oversized picture book by Swedish artist Arrhenius (Main Street Magic, 2017; Animals, 2016) introduces very young children to the sights and colors of the city.
Flat, Lego-like figures of varying skin tones populate the European-inflected city scenes, which include a movie theater, bookstore, port, airport, art museum, construction site, bakery, zoo, pool, park, hospital, and school. Some figures reappear in different illustrations, prompting a seek-and-find game or even a rudimentary narrative. The only word on each page is the title of each scene or activity, which is engagingly integrated with the illustration, designed in a type to match the place or activity to which it refers. “MOVIE THEATER” appears on the marquee; each letter of “soccer” appears on a different ball being kicked around; “dogs” is composed of the leashes that connect the pets and their owners; the word “museum” becomes a tumbled sculpture of letters. Retro, stylish, and elegant in design, with plenty of detail to engage young kids, this big, bright tome will be a great tool for use in a preschool classroom or library reading circle. Two spreads at the end of the book, in the form of one-sided poster pages, provide a picture dictionary of the words illustrated in the book, labeled in clear caps.
Ideal for young listeners and beginning readers who are making their first word associations. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0257-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Adults wishing to expand the worldviews of their young charges beyond Eurocentric interpretations will find plenty of visual...
A retelling of the classic fairy tale with India as its setting.
This latest addition to the Once Upon A World series tells the well-known story of the maiden with beautiful long tresses locked away in a tower by an evil witch and the prince who falls in love with her. As with Perkins’ Cinderella (illustrated by Sandra Equihua, 2016) and Snow White (illustrated by Misa Saburi, 2016), the text has been simplified for a younger audience, and the distinguishing twist here is its setting in India. The mixed-media illustrations of plants, animals, village life, and, of course, Rapunzel, the witch, and the prince come alive in warm, saturated colors. Other than the visuals, there is little to differentiate the story from traditional tellings. As always, it is still the prince who will eventually lead Rapunzel to her salvation by taking her to his kingdom far away from the witch, but that is the nature of fairy tales. The only quibble with this book and indeed with this series is the board-book format. Given the fact that the audience most likely to enjoy it is beyond the board-book age, a full-size book would have done more justice to the vibrant artwork.
Adults wishing to expand the worldviews of their young charges beyond Eurocentric interpretations will find plenty of visual delights in this one, though they’ll wish it were bigger. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9072-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like the little bear in Frank Asch’s Pizza (2015), toddlers will be left with an appetite for seconds. And thirds….
Following a stack of Pancakes! (2016), Nieminen dishes up ingredients and instructions for another tasty treat.
Equally suitable for real or imaginary kitchens, this recipe in board-book format begins with geometrically stylized representations of ingredients (“1 teaspoon of sugar,” for instance, is represented by a round-topped white triangle) and required bowls, measuring cups, and other gear. It then goes on to steps for mixing, kneading, and rising the dough, pre-cooking the crust, adding sauce (from a jar) and toppings, and baking until done. Labels and captions identify everything and explain each step in turn. Prospective chefs too young to do the actual cooking can pretend or follow along by using heavy-duty pull tabs to simulate pouring and mixing, then “knead” a smooth plastic pad, set the oven temperature with a geared wheel (and, prompts a safety note, an adult’s help, as “real ovens are hot!”), lift a flap to check the pie, and finally pull out a wedge-shaped slice when it’s finished. “Delicious!”
Like the little bear in Frank Asch’s Pizza (2015), toddlers will be left with an appetite for seconds. And thirds…. (Informational novelty. 2-4)Pub Date: May 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7148-7409-8
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Phaidon
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
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