If reading with a caring adult, children can show off what they know and extend their learning, though there’s not much...
Flatt and Barron’s fourth and final entry in the Math in Nature series rounds out the seasons with a look at shapes in the summer.
From 2-D to 3-D, Flatt explores all sorts of shapes, though only rarely do either the text or the gorgeous cut-paper collages reflect shapes actually found in nature. Moles dig out tunnels in the shapes of rectangles, triangles and squares, while ghost crabs use the sand excavated from their holes to build spheres, prisms and cylinders. A spread depicting a beaver’s dam asks readers to find 3-D shapes with various numbers of faces. From shapes, Flatt moves on to explore such relational concepts as above, below, under, over, beside, etc. A pond scene challenges readers’ knowledge of symmetry; dolphins turn, flip and slide; and two final scenes ask readers to look at placement. Barron’s artwork continues to be the major draw, as this latest shares the flaws of the other books in the series. The rhythm and rhyme are inconsistent, sometimes dropping altogether, and the book lacks an answer key. The audience isn’t clear—those who are drawn to picture books may find themselves in over their heads, as the concepts and vocabulary are not explained. This entry also mixes math with a bit of science, with murky results. Backmatter gives a brief paragraph of information about each featured animal.
If reading with a caring adult, children can show off what they know and extend their learning, though there’s not much realistic about the nature. (Math picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-926973-87-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Laugh-out-loud fun for all.
Hilarious complications ensue when Nanette’s mom gives her the responsibility of buying the family baguette.
She sets out on her errand and encounters lots of distractions along the way as she meets and greets Georgette, Suzette, Bret with his clarinet, Mr. Barnett and his pet, Antoinette. But she remembers her mission and buys the baguette from Juliette the baker. And oh, it is a wonderful large, warm, aromatic hunk of bread, so Nanette takes a taste and another and more—until there is nothing left. Maybe she needs to take a jet to Tibet. But she faces her mother and finds understanding, tenderness, and a surprise twist. Willems is at his outlandish best with line after line of “ettes” and their absurd rhymes, all the while demonstrating a deep knowledge of children’s thought processes. Nanette and the entire cast of characters are bright green frogs with very large round eyes, heavily outlined in black and clad in eccentric clothing and hats. A highly detailed village constructed of cardboard forms the background for Nanette’s adventures. Her every emotion explodes all over the pages in wildly expressive, colorful vignettes and an eye-popping use of emphatic display type. The endpapers follow the fate of the baguette from fresh and whole to chewed and gone. Demands for encores will surely follow.
Laugh-out-loud fun for all. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2286-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For places where the first-grade shelves are particularly thin.
The traditional song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” gets a school makeover as readers follow a cheery narrator through the first 12 days of first grade.
“On the first day of first grade / I had fun right away // laughing and learning all day!” In these first two spreads, Jennings shows the child, who has brown skin and a cloud of dark-brown hair, entering the schoolyard with a diverse array of classmates and settling in. In the backgrounds, caregivers, including a woman in hijab, stand at the fence and kids hang things on hooks in the back of the room. Each new day sees the child and their friends enjoying new things, previous days’ activities repeated in the verses each time so that those listening will soon be chiming in. The child helps in the classroom, checks out books from the library, plants seeds, practices telling time and counting money, leads the line, performs in a play, shows off a picture of their pet bunny, and does activities in gym, music, and art classes. The Photoshop-and-watercolor illustrations portray adorable and engaged kids having fun while learning with friends. But while the song and topic are the same, this doesn’t come close to touching either the hysterical visuals or great rhythm of Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003).
For places where the first-grade shelves are particularly thin. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-266851-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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