Young board-book listeners will be happy when their caregivers take Hopkins’ advice: “Read to me—then— / read to me / read...
In his first collection for toddlers, master anthologist Hopkins has organized 30 poems by over 20 poets in five sections: “Family,” “Food,” “Firsts,” “Play,” and “Bedtime.”
Despite the saccharine title taken from Rebecca Kai Dotlich's “Sandman” poem, these verses are not doggerel, making it a refreshing departure from the unfortunate board-book norm. The longest poem is only eight lines long, while most have four to six. The vocabulary is simple, and the rhymes work, as readers will expect from such well-known poets as X.J. Kennedy, Jane Yolen, Eileen Spinelli, Marilyn Singer, Alice Schertle, and J. Patrick Lewis. Parents and grandparents—arguably the primary audience for this collection—may discover some new favorites among the other contributors: Prince Redcloud, Joan Bransfield Graham, Laura Purdie Salas, Christine O'Connell George, and several more. Hopkins has chosen poems written from the child's viewpoint, so even with multiple authors there is a unity of concept. Nassner's pastel-hued illustrations match the tone of each poem, and her anthropomorphic-animal cast sidesteps the challenge of representing ethnic diversity that photos or more realistic illustrations would present.
Young board-book listeners will be happy when their caregivers take Hopkins’ advice: “Read to me—then— / read to me / read to me / again and again.” (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1037-7
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Not a great choice for the youngest dinosaur lovers.
A board-book ode to parental love as old as the dinosaurs.
A line of text on the left of each spread reads like a dinosaur-themed valentine that a third grader might choose, with punishingly punny wordplay that incorporates dinosaur-related words. On the facing page a dinosaur pair—a baby and an adult—gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes against whimsical, pastel-hued prehistoric-ish backgrounds. In smaller print, in all caps, at the bottom of the left page is the scientific name for the dinosaur referenced by the text and picture followed by a helpful phonetic pronunciation guide. White-outlined footprints appear next to their names, though the white is sometimes difficult to see against the pastel pages. Ten of the best-known dinosaurs are included. Twisting the dinosaur names to fit the loving sentiments succeeds some of the time but more often results in tortured text, well beyond the understanding of the board book audience. The line accompanying two hugging velociraptors, for instance, is just confusing: “Wrap-TOR arms around me, / with you I’ll always stay.” Others are just plain clumsy: “I-wanna-GUANODON you kisses, / I truly just adore you.” Very young children, even those fascinated by dinosaurs, will not get it. Older dinosaur fans will be put off by the babyish format.
Not a great choice for the youngest dinosaur lovers. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2295-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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