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MY MOM'S THE BEST

Name: MY MOM'S THE BEST
Author: Rosie Smith

by Rosie Smith & illustrated by Bruce Whatley & developed by SnappyAnt ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2012

A darling first app for little ones to share with their own moms.

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A simple, well-executed animal mommy/baby love story for the youngest crowd.

“My mom’s the best because she gives me big hugs,” says the narrator, and with just a touch, a big, fuzzy brown bear and baby bear appear. Touch the bear, and she hugs her baby just a little bit tighter. Illustrator Whatley’s affable, whimsical animal pairs virtually pop off the screen’s solid backgrounds. A mommy parrot teaches her nestling to sing, an elephant mom “makes bathtime fun” with a big splash of water, a penguin mommy feeds her baby a huge fish, and an upside-down mommy bat tucks her baby in under her wings (the text is upside down here, too, which is a nice touch). There's enough silliness and humor here to engage parents, too. Navigation is available on each page, and the high-quality narration, animations, music and sound effects pair with the simple text perfectly.

A darling first app for little ones to share with their own moms. (iPad storybook app. 1-5)

Pub Date: May 2, 2012

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: SnappyAnt

Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S CHRISTMAS

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2014

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...

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The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.

The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3

Page Count: 24

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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MOO, BAA, FA LA LA LA LA!

by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2022

Cute and sprightly but not a standout.

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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)