A colorful, exciting way to open young children’s eyes and minds to the shapes all around them.
What amazing sights nature has on offer. Look around!
Aren’t shapes great? Where would we be without those literal building blocks of existence? This volume distinguishes itself from ordinary concept books that simply introduce children to fundamental shapes; this one will also foster a sense of wonder in the natural world. Kids will be mesmerized as they pore over the dazzlingly colorful, delicate, and intricate patterns that shapes produce in nature, seen here from a bevy of perspectives. Stewart proposes—and presents clear evidence, courtesy of gorgeous photos—that shapes are everywhere in nature, from a honeycomb to the spots on a ladybug to raindrops, which appear wondrous when viewed up close as groups of differently sized, shimmering blue circles reflecting light. Children can also look closely at plants, gemstones, and rocks, all of which have specific contours, but shapes can also be found in their markings. A quibble—though the backmatter offers information on shapes, it doesn’t identify the objects depicted in the photos; kids (and adults) may be curious to learn more. Simple, gentle rhyming text enhances the concept, adds to the book’s allure, and invites kids to look closely at the shapes presented here. Another highlight: This is a nifty vocabulary developer, featuring delightful, potentially unfamiliar words including crescent, pyramid, and sphere.
A colorful, exciting way to open young children’s eyes and minds to the shapes all around them. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781478887744
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
So rocket science can be fun.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
If they haven’t already thought about their futures (and they probably haven’t), toddlers and preschoolers might start planning after perusing this cheerful first guide to scientific careers. Plump-cheeked, wide-eyed tykes with various skin and hair colors introduce different professions, including zoologist, meteorologist, aerospace engineer, and environmental scientist, depicted with cues to tip readers off to what the jobs entail. The simple text presents the sometimes-long, tongue-twisting career names while helpfully defining them in comprehensible terms. For example, an environmental scientist “helps take care of our world,” and a zoologist is defined as someone who “studies how animals behave.” Scientists in general are identified as those who “study, learn, and solve problems.” Such basic language not only benefits youngsters, but also offers adults sharing the book easy vocabulary with which to expand on conversations with kids about the professions. The title’s ebullient appearance is helped along by the typography: The jobs’ names are set in all caps, printed in color and in a larger font than the surrounding text, and emphasized with exclamation points. Additionally, the buoyant watercolors feature clues to what scientists in these fields work with, such as celestial bodies for astronomers. The youngest listeners won’t necessarily get all of this, but the book works as a rudimentary introduction to STEM topics and a shoutout to scientific endeavors.
So rocket science can be fun. (Informational picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62354-149-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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