Babies and toddlers can't anticipate what they have not yet fully experienced, and this book will do little to build...
A bear family anticipates Christmas in this slightly oversized board book.
Overlapping, stocking-shaped pages create easy handholds for a toddler to turn the sturdy card stock nested in a box frame. Each stocking is decorated in busy patterns—red polka dots for Daddy Bear, red, white, and blue stripes and squares for Momma, green trees for Baby, etc. The rhyming verses describe an odd assortment of presents that each cheerful bear finds in its stocking—a hat for Daddy, a scarf for Momma, mittens for Bobby. It is hard to imagine that Bonnie Bear would actually exclaim “Perfect for my dolly!” when she finds a choking hazard (buttons) in her stocking. When Baby Bear finds a carrot, he is visibly disappointed. Then the whole family goes outside to make a snowman using the hat, scarf, mittens, buttons, and carrot. With no context or prior experience, young children won't understand the mystery of the odd gifts in the stockings. Toddlers will enjoy turning the pages but won't have patience for the rhyming verses or vague storyline.
Babies and toddlers can't anticipate what they have not yet fully experienced, and this book will do little to build excitement or even curiosity about Christmas; better just bundle up and build a snowman instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-79455-8
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
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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
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The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer...
Seven years after Little Pookie (2011) first appeared, this popular piglet is finally celebrating Christmas.
“Oh Pookie! Come look! It’s beginning to snow,” says a maternal-looking pig. But where did Pookie go? Past the Christmas tree, to put on a snowsuit of course. Pookie’s ever cheerful mama is willing to go out too. After all, “It’s a magical time to be walking with you.” When she observes, “Our noses are frozen. It’s time to go in,” Pookie protests in typical toddler style: “But I’m not c-c-c-cold!” The next three pages highlight indoor holiday preparations—making paper garlands, baking and decorating cookies. The rhyming text mirrors the spare illustrations. A spidery type that emulates handwriting makes it clear when Pookie is speaking. Then “the doorbell is ringing. / Our family and friends have arrived for the singing.” The second-to-last spread shows Pookie, mama, and six other pigs—and Boynton’s requisite chicken—singing (“Con brio”), “MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! AND A HAP-PY NEW YEAR!” Conveniently, this text is placed beneath the musical notation. Finally Pookie hangs a stocking and goes off to bed without any fuss, anticipating presents on Christmas morning.
The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer or an ideal Christmas Eve read to share with other little piggies. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3724-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
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