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BEAR & MOUSE RISE AND SHINE

Sweet and uncomplicated.

Best friends Bear and Mouse go through their day, from waking up to playing in the park.

Bear and Mouse live together and, though portrayed as anthropomorphized animal children, fend for themselves with no adults under the same roof. Sweet illustrations in cheery colors introduce readers to the pair. The expectation of interactivity in the book is set right from the cover, where children can manipulate a slider to make the sun pop out at the top of the book. There is a slider or flaps on every double-page spread, all easily manipulated on the extra-sturdy pages. The story itself is simple and straightforward, with no surprises: Bear and Mouse wake up, have breakfast, put their coats on, get on a bus to go to the park, and then play in the park. Companion book Bear & Mouse Time for Bed has the friends getting ready for bed. Here again, children will have sliders to move and a flap to open as Bear and Mouse take a bath, have a tooth-brushing race, put on their pajamas, read a bedtime story, and get into bed, wishing each other a good night. Little ones may find comfort in the simple routines that many will recognize and feel familiar with.

Sweet and uncomplicated. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-68010-680-0

Page Count: 10

Publisher: Tiger Tales

Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021

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SPOOKY POOKIE

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.

It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: July 7, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5

Page Count: 18

Publisher: Robin Corey/Random

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

Categories:
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EEK! HALLOWEEN!

An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.

The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.

A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.

An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Workman

Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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