Here’s hoping for many more titles in this excellent series.
A companion to Bye-Bye Binky and I Use the Potty (both 2016) aims to help little kids take charge of big feelings.
The cover art, rendered digitally in a limited palette of coral, brown, black, and white, contradicts the title right off the bat, as it depicts a child of color with light brown skin and shoulder-length, black, straight hair in midtantrum, her mouth agape, limbs rigid, eyes screwed tight, and tears shooting outward. The first-person text looks back to “When I was little and I didn’t get my way, I cried.” An accompanying series of pictures shows her making demands in various stages of a tantrum. She really loses control when her father, depicted with similar coloring and short, black hair, denies her a cupcake. At the height of her fit, the text shifts to the present tense and asks, “Do I still throw tantrums?” This prompts a page turn that signals how she’s found ways to calm herself, since “BIG KIDS DON’T THROW TANTRUMS.” She “take[s] a little break,” she takes deep breaths in and out, or she might get a hug from her dad. When he tells her again that she must wait for a cupcake, she good-naturedly says “A BIG KID’s gotta try!” A satisfying vignette in the backmatter note to caregivers shows her rewarded with a treat after all.
Here’s hoping for many more titles in this excellent series. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6289-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an...
A little boy exults in his new role as big brother.
Rhyming text describes the arrival of a new baby and all of the big brother’s rewarding new duties. He gets to help with feedings, diaper changes, playtime, bathtime, and naptime. Though the rhyming couplets can sometimes feel a bit forced and awkward, the sentiment is sweet, as the focus here never veers from the excitement and love a little boy feels for his tiny new sibling. The charming, uncluttered illustrations convincingly depict the growing bond between this fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked, smiling pair of boys. In the final pages, the parents, heretofore kept mostly out of view, are pictured holding the children. The accompanying text reads: “Mommy, Daddy, baby, me. / We love each other—a family!” In companion volume I Am a Big Sister, the little boy is replaced with a little girl with bows in her hair. Some of the colors and patterns in the illustrations are slightly altered, but it is essentially the same title.
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an older sibling can do to help. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-68886-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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