Going through this everyday routine with Bunny may assist adults in putting their own little bunnies to bed.
It’s that time of the day when Bunny must put all the toys away, eat a delicious dinner of carrots, radishes, and greens, have a bath, put on pajamas, and cuddle up with a loving adult rabbit while they read a book together.
The text is a loving, soothing four-line rhyme on every double-page spread, each one starting with the same first line: “Hush-a-bye, Bunny / my sweet sleepyhead. / Let’s eat up our dinner— / it’s soon time for bed.” The pastel illustrations show a charming little toddler Bunny wearing a striped green shirt playing with gender-neutral toys (stuffed animals, balls, coloring books) and then going through the usual evening routine up to donning a yellow polka-dot sleeper after the bath and listening to the older rabbit read a bunny mermaid book. However, when it’s time to get into bed and switch off the light, Bunny is not happy and gets tearful. The adult rabbit promises to “hug away worries / and kiss away tears,” which helps comfort Bunny into slumber. Back-of-the-book text refers to the adult rabbit, who wears a reddish-pink striped shirt, as Mommy Bunny, but the tender relationship they enjoy together is one that could exist between any loving adult and child.
Going through this everyday routine with Bunny may assist adults in putting their own little bunnies to bed. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9459-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
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