A lesson on being open to new foods that little ones will eat right up.
It’s dinnertime for those sassy Chickies (Bedtime for Chickies, 2014; Pottytime for Chickies, 2014).
Sheep, Donkey and Pig try to get the three little Chickies to eat a nutritious dinner, but the feisty yellow fellows have their own ideas. For instance, when presented with a noodle dish by Sheep, they respond: “We can’t eat this. It’s too drippy. / We want something chocolate chippy.” When Sheep convinces them to give it a try—“Just one pint-sized, pewee peck? / You might like it. You should check”—they change their tune and slurp it up. The same sequence occurs when Donkey feeds them Mexican food and Pig offers them veggies. Finally, it’s time for treats, and after protesting that they have no more room for goodies, the Chickies again acquiesce: “Well, maybe just one tiny taste. / We’d hate for it to go to waste!” The Chickies are bright yellow circles with simple yet incredibly expressive features, while their big-eyed animal caretakers are endearingly cartoonlike. Wobbly black outlines lend an air of instability and happy chaos to the effort.
A lesson on being open to new foods that little ones will eat right up. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-227470-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HarperFestival
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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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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
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