A refreshing first-birthday book, with subtleties for adult readers and details for little ones.
It’s a first birthday celebration for baby, and lots of baby friends join in the festivities.
The book opens on baby waiting expectantly to be lifted from the crib and progresses through all of the birthday fun, showing friends arriving, cake, and ice cream before closing with bathtime, snuggles, and sleep. Godwin and Bell’s text focuses on the birthday baby and friends, and the story is told almost entirely through descriptions of the babies and Blackwood’s illustrations of them. “Lazy baby” describes a sleeping friend, “brave baby” goes down the slide head first, and “sad baby” has just lost dessert to the dog. No pronouns are ever used to describe the babies, and while some wear dresses or tutus, there is no specific gender attached to any particular illustration—a nice touch, whether intentional or not. Some tots are browner than others (the protagonist presents white), and a pair of twins are cued as black via their hairstyles. Blackwood’s illustrations nevertheless are lovely, with her customary delicately energetic line and a palette of mostly primary red, yellow, and blue. Adult readers will appreciate the two-page spread that so accurately depicts what it’s like trying to take a photo of a group of wiggly little ones. Overall, this is a nice approach to the classic first-birthday book, offering a sense of play and nuance in both the brief text and the lovely illustrations.
A refreshing first-birthday book, with subtleties for adult readers and details for little ones. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: March 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7034-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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