Brimming with enthusiasm, emphasized words, and silly sounds, these cheery books will have emergent readers clamoring for...
The latest installment in the Billie’s Super-Duper Adventures series explores veterinarian dramatic play.
Billie is normally a preschooler set on high speed. She often bounds into school, ready for adventure. But on this particular day, the little white girl limps in, full of woe. She has a scrape on her knee. Brown-skinned Mr. Simon sympathizes with her pain and shows her that Teddy (a stuffed bear) also has an injury. Quick as a wink, Billie and her sidekick pal, Jack, also white, rush off in the cardboard ambulance. As they speed into a cloud of imagination, the classroom instantly transforms into an animal hospital with Dr. Billie and Nurse Jack treating a wide assortment of critters—even a large hippo that has eaten too much ice cream. True to child-doctor sensibilities, many an ailment can be healed with a superabundance of bandages and a spoonful of medicine. Billie and Jack also award star stickers to very brave patients. In the simultaneously publishing Billie’s Outer Space Adventure, Billie and Jack explore Planet Pom-Pom—of course coming up with a “super-duper idea” to save the day when they come across a stranded space tourist. The addition of a few new characters of various skin tones in both books is welcomed.
Brimming with enthusiasm, emphasized words, and silly sounds, these cheery books will have emergent readers clamoring for more. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61067-607-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Egg-stra special.
The creators of Pick a Pine Tree (2017) and Pick a Pumpkin (2019) cover each step of a popular Easter tradition.
The first stop for a light-skinned caregiver and child is the farm. Peering into the henhouse, they spot an egg (reminding readers that eggs don’t originate at the grocery store). More eggs are collected throughout the spring countryside and brought home, ready to hard boil. While the eggs are cooling, it’s time to prepare the dye! The lively text highlights natural methods first (“Stew some plants / to make a brew: / beets turn eggs / a rosy hue. / Spinach? Green! / Berries? Blue! / Try some herbs / or spices, too”) but also gives a nod to store-bought kits. After a full day of egg decorating, the youngster wakes up the next morning for a festive neighborhood egg hunt. Happily, treats found inside plastic eggs are not limited to sugar only; they include secret notes, tiny toys, and coins, too. (The child adds their dyed eggs to this bounty.) Sprays of bright greens, a shining sun, and dotted buds on trees as well as pastel bunting and fuzzy bunny ears and flower crowns on little ones bring a light, airy lift to this joyful community gathering. The children involved in the egg hunt are diverse in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Egg-stra special. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2847-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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