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CUTIE PIE LOOKS FOR THE EASTER BUNNY

From the Tiny Tab series

An upbeat, interactive offering sure to make an appearance in Easter baskets and storytimes come spring.

In the latest Tiny Tabs offering, tots can pull and slide large tabs to help a chick named Cutie Pie as she searches high and low for the elusive Easter Bunny.

A sweet yellow chick called Cutie Pie, rosy-cheeked with long-lashed eyes set wide apart, goes in search of the Easter Bunny. When she looks in the woods, she finds only Dog and Squirrel, but they each have their very own Easter egg! In the playhouse, she finds Owl, Horse, and Turtle, and they all have Easter eggs too. Cutie Pie continues her search, finding her friends and their special Easter eggs in every place she looks until she finally spots the Easter Bunny behind a bush and is rewarded with an egg of her own. Tots are encouraged to participate in the story by pulling on the large, easy-to-grab tabs to reveal Cutie Pie’s friends and, finally, the Easter Bunny and his basket of eggs. The simplicity of the plot, the cheery and colorful digitally rendered illustrations, and the interactive pull-tabs make this one a solid holiday selection. 

An upbeat, interactive offering sure to make an appearance in Easter baskets and storytimes come spring. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-7636-7599-8

Page Count: 8

Publisher: Nosy Crow

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015

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MOO, BAA, FA LA LA LA LA!

Cute and sprightly but not a standout.

Deck the stalls?

A bevy of barnyard animals, a cat, and some dogs get fully into the Christmas spirit by sprucing up the farm with colorful decorations, including holly berries and sparkling baubles. They have a great time and sing while going about their merry chores in a manner somewhat in keeping with the rhythm of the classic tune “Deck the Halls.” (In fact, a flock of sheep are shown holding song sheets for it.) As might be expected with these particular celebrants, some of the familiar lyrics are altered just a bit; for instance, “boughs of holly” is “translated” as “cows and holly.” Adult readers expecting the rhythm here to work exactly as it does in the original will be disappointed, because it doesn’t—it’s clunky. This is merely a brief, lightweight spoof of the familiar ditty, so it’s recommended that grown-ups read rather than sing this—except for that final line!—to very young targeted audiences, who may be unfamiliar with the actual song anyway. Some fun is still to be had in the illustrations, however. The spirited, wittily expressive animal characters are depicted having a fine time romping about and producing a variety of onomatopoeic sounds throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Cute and sprightly but not a standout. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-66591-435-2

Page Count: 16

Publisher: Boynton Bookworks

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022

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THE ITSY BITSY BUNNY

Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.

An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.

Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.

Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0

Page Count: 16

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016

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