Little ones, perhaps new big brothers and sisters, will cuddle with a loving grown-up and find comfort and reassurance here.
Babies are all around, and if you look carefully you can watch how they grow and change.
Newborns sleep, drink milk, burp, pee, poo, and cry. Very soon they can smile and giggle and wave arms and legs. Then they recognize faces, grasp objects, burble, sit up, and even roll about. Things get messy when they start eating solid food, and watch out as they crawl, then stand while holding on to nearby furniture. Time seems to speed up, and they are saying their first words and toddling, a bit unsteadily at first, babies no more. Double-page spreads filled with Asquith’s playful, exuberant cartoons depict babies and families engaged in actions appropriate to each developmental stage. Families depicted are racially and ethnically diverse and include a pair of twins as well as a multiracial, two-mother family, one of whom uses a wheelchair. (A hijabi mum never takes her scarf off, even inside the home.) Some of the illustrations are framed, some are scattered, and some are seen with all the families involved together in a single setting. Babies or their paraphernalia float across the endpapers and along tops or sides of several pages. Hoffman incorporates British vernacular in direct conversational descriptions of babies’ development, with asides in the form of their sounds and perceived thoughts, as well as their parents’ interactions with them. And oh yes, be sure to pay attention to the fuzzy pink toy elephant who appears in each spread with a comment to highlight babies’ new accomplishments.
Little ones, perhaps new big brothers and sisters, will cuddle with a loving grown-up and find comfort and reassurance here. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-91307-470-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Otter-Barry
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Adults looking for an easy entry into this subject will not be disappointed.
This book presents a simplified explanation of the role the atmosphere plays in controlling climate.
The authors present a planet as a ball and its atmosphere as a blanket that envelops the ball. If the blanket is thick, the planet will be hot, as is the case for Venus. If the blanket is thin, the planet is cold, as with Mars. Planet Earth has a blanket that traps “just the right amount of heat.” The authors explain trees, animals, and oceans are part of what makes Earth’s atmosphere “just right.” “But…Uh-oh! People on Earth are changing the blanket!” The book goes on to explain how some human activities are sending “greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere, thus “making the blanket heavier and thicker” and “making Earth feel unwell.” In the case of a planet feeling unwell, what would the symptoms be? Sea-level rises that lead to erosion, flooding, and island loss, along with extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, blizzards, and wildfires. Ending on a constructive note, the authors name a few of the remedies to “help our Earth before it’s too late!” By using the blanket analogy, alongside simple and clear illustrations, this otherwise complex topic becomes very accessible to young children, though caregivers will need to help with the specialized vocabulary.
Adults looking for an easy entry into this subject will not be disappointed. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8082-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
Useful for caregivers who already practice Pilates but for newbies, not so much.
Given the recent popularity of yoga and mindfulness practices, it was only a matter of time before someone would publish a sturdy board book that purports to teach Pilates to preschoolers.
Ouerghi uses metaphor to illustrate 12 exercises that are strikingly similar to yoga poses. Her brief introduction doesn’t explain the difference between yoga and Pilates. A list of tips on the following page alludes to Pilates’ slower pace, but actual instruction is minimal, with no guidance as to the speed at which the exercises should be done or how many times they should be repeated. Eleven exercises follow, one per double-page spread. On verso, children are told to imagine being an animal, a boat, a bridge, or even pencils, while fanciful pictures hint at the prescribed exercise. For example, above a picture of two bears—one roasting marshmallows and the other using a saw (bizarrely) to shave bark off a log—text reads, “Imagine that your hands can saw through wood.” This will not help youngsters understand the seated alternate twist pictured on the right. Similarly, cute monkeys cutting paper in a tree seem unrelated to the scissor kick. On each recto, numbered illustrations of a child modeling the actions accompany rather cryptic instructions. The children display a variety of skin tones.
Useful for caregivers who already practice Pilates but for newbies, not so much. (Board book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63322-589-3
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Walter Foster Jr.
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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