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FIRST WORDS

Name: FIRST WORDS
Author: Rob Walker
ISBN: 978-1-910184-74-5

From the Bright Start Right Start series

by Rob Walker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 17, 2015

Bright but small pictures provide many opportunities for vocabulary development when read one-on-one, but don't try to use...

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A busy addition to the Bright Start Right Start series.

This little book tries to cover too much. Each page has between eight and 14 small pictures of everyday objects familiar to most toddlers. The first spread is “about me,” and subsequent topics include family, home, outside, fun, food, transportation, animals, bathtime, and finally sleep. The organization is logical, but some of the concepts are too abstract to be defined by just a few pictures. For example, it is not possible to include all possible configurations and ethnic varieties of families in just eight pictures with 13 labels, but it tries, and as a consequence, all the pictures are too small. Other books in the series are more successful. The layout in Farm Animals includes one large picture with three small pictures on the facing page that provide additional information about each animal. In Shapes, a large image is on the left, with four examples of the shape on the right. The most effective spread in Opposites shows just one red car and then a front and back view. Unfortunately the other spreads are much more cluttered, so the concepts are less clear. On the plus side, the series aligns nicely with emergent-literacy principles. In addition to the labeled pictures, questions to encourage parent-child interaction are on every page.

Bright but small pictures provide many opportunities for vocabulary development when read one-on-one, but don't try to use this in a group setting. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-910184-74-5

Page Count: 20

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
FIRST NUMBERS
by Rob Walker ; illustrated by Rob Walker

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SMILE, POUT-POUT FISH

by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 2014

An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WORRY-WORRY WHALE AND THE CLASSROOM JITTERS
by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna

- BOOK REVIEW
POUT-POUT FISH
by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna

- BOOK REVIEW
THE POUT-POUT FISH AND THE MAD, MAD DAY
by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna

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ALL ABOUT ME

From the Look & Learn series

by National Geographic ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 11, 2014

Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on...

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An exploration of the human body through colorful photos.

Every other double-page spread labels the individual parts on one major area: head, torso, back, arm and leg. Ethnically diverse boy-girl pairs serve as models as arrows point to specific features and captions float nearby. While the book usefully mentions rarely depicted body parts, such as eyebrow, armpit and shin, some of the directional arrows are unclear. The arrow pointing at a girl’s shoulder hits her in the upper arm, and the belly button is hard is distinguish from the stomach (both are concealed by shirts). Facts about the human body (“Guess what? You have tiny hairs in your nose that keep out dirt”) appear on alternating spreads along with photos of kids in action. Baby Animals, another title in the Look & Learn series, uses an identical format to introduce readers to seal pups, leopard cubs, elephant calves, ducklings and tadpoles. In both titles, the final spread offers a review of the information and encourages readers to match baby animals to their parents or find body parts on a photo of kids jumping on a trampoline.

Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on the right track despite earlier titles that were much too conceptual for the audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)