BELLA'S FALL COAT

Name: BELLA'S FALL COAT
Author: Lynn Plourde
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2697-6

by Lynn Plourde ; illustrated by Susan Gal ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 2016

Adults may feel nostalgia over seasons past—and young readers will be introduced to the enticing lure of autumn and the joys...

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An exuberant girl leaps into the joys of seasonal change with her loving grandmother.

Bella is growing, but she wants things to last forever, such as the crunchy autumn leaves, the geese that fill the sky, and especially her beloved old coat. Whenever Grams kindly mentions the need for a new coat, there’s a “WHOOSH,” “WHIZZ,” or “ZOOM” as the ruddy-complexioned child sprints out the door to play in the natural world. Each trip outside brings delight; each return, the opportunity to bond with Grams. Plourde’s lovely text about the ephemeral nature of objects and seasons—and the lasting love of family—is beautifully realized by Gal’s expressive, digital collage illustrations. Vibrant and spontaneous, they recall Keats and Isadora. Cleverly, she contrasts the cool blue tones of the girl’s outfit against the autumn-colored orange of fall, then flops the contrast as the seasons change. Bella’s joie de vivre emanates from the page, her wavy, often wild, blue-black hair a perfect extension of its vivacious owner. But Gal also captures the tender, quiet moments: Grams asleep under the warm glow of a lamp, the new coat she’s made in her lap, and the loving twosome walking hand in hand under a pink, purple dusky sky.

Adults may feel nostalgia over seasons past—and young readers will be introduced to the enticing lure of autumn and the joys of sharing it with someone they love . (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4847-2697-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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CHICKA CHICKA HO HO HO

From the Chicka Chicka Book series

by William Boniface ; illustrated by Julien Chung ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2024

A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.

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A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.

The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.

A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024

ISBN: 9781665954761

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)