Toddlers ready for simple stories will find better choices among regular picture books.
This very busy board book seems to want to be a toy.
Sturdy, wipeable board pages and layered cutouts make a dense, leafy forest habitat for an elephant preparing for his birthday party. The illustrations give a good sense of the rain forest, but the plants’ multiple shades of brown, green, and orange disguise the other animals almost too completely. Finding the gazelle, monkey, and parrot hiding in the greenery could be a challenge for toddlers who do not yet know what to look for. Two extra-thick board-over-foam interior pages provide a nesting place for an elephant cutout that acts as a sort of one-piece puzzle designed for children to play with as they read; little ones will likely grab the elephant and not want to let it go. Young children most in need of board books may not sit still for the somewhat wordy story. Elephant's repeated question, “Do you know that today is an important day?” could serve as a refrain, but slight rewording each time he asks makes it difficult for toddlers to anticipate the question and join in. Companion title Here Comes Leo Lion has many of the same problems, plus a rather heavy-handed lesson, in which Lion learns, rather quickly, that boasting about his wildness will not win him friends.
Toddlers ready for simple stories will find better choices among regular picture books. (Board book.1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4549-1581-2
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Cute and sprightly but not a standout.
Deck the stalls?
A bevy of barnyard animals, a cat, and some dogs get fully into the Christmas spirit by sprucing up the farm with colorful decorations, including holly berries and sparkling baubles. They have a great time and sing while going about their merry chores in a manner somewhat in keeping with the rhythm of the classic tune “Deck the Halls.” (In fact, a flock of sheep are shown holding song sheets for it.) As might be expected with these particular celebrants, some of the familiar lyrics are altered just a bit; for instance, “boughs of holly” is “translated” as “cows and holly.” Adult readers expecting the rhythm here to work exactly as it does in the original will be disappointed, because it doesn’t—it’s clunky. This is merely a brief, lightweight spoof of the familiar ditty, so it’s recommended that grown-ups read rather than sing this—except for that final line!—to very young targeted audiences, who may be unfamiliar with the actual song anyway. Some fun is still to be had in the illustrations, however. The spirited, wittily expressive animal characters are depicted having a fine time romping about and producing a variety of onomatopoeic sounds throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cute and sprightly but not a standout. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66591-435-2
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.
An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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