With large, sturdy board pages just right for tiny hands, this is a sweet selection for baby’s bedtime.
One by one, animal mothers tuck their babies into bed, easing them off to dreamland with snuggles and kisses.
Soothing rhythms and apt and varied vocabulary make this goodnight book special. Take, for example: “When cuddly cubs begin to doze, their mothers stroke them on the nose, / then grumble softly in their ear. / In Bear that means / ‘Good night, my dear.’ ” The adorable animal mothers and babies—bunnies, cats, lambs and chicks, in addition to the bears—look absolutely blissful as they cuddle up and settle in for some rest. These sweet scenes are set against a bluish-purple night sky dotted with white stars that twinkle merrily down on the sleeping critters. The final spread incorporates all of the animal families at once and offers a pleasing closing sentiment: “And with that nuzzle, kiss / or hug, the animals sleep, / warm and snug, / the way that babies always do / when mothers tell them, ‘I love you.’ ” While this title is perfect for mother-baby bonding, it doesn’t include any doting dads. Papas who want in on the action might try Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben’s Daddy Kisses (2003) or Karen Katz’s Daddy Hugs (2007).
With large, sturdy board pages just right for tiny hands, this is a sweet selection for baby’s bedtime. (Board book. 0-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-47957-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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