Cute but cloying.
Cute animals are reassured and tucked into bed under lift-the-flap blankets.
Part of the Heart-Felt series, this sugary bedtime tale shows a series of anthropomorphic animals bedding down for the night. The animals are flat and cartoonish, all bright colors and patterns, each outlined with faux hand-stitching, as though they have been quilted onto the page. Each spread shows the head or ears of an animal peeking over the “blanket” flap on recto. Very young toddlers might enjoy using these clues to guess who is underneath, but since the text often immediately announces the answer, that game loses some of its punch. What’s hiding under the flaps isn’t especially scintillating either. On some pages, it’s a mild surprise to find not just one, but several animals snuggled underneath, but most flap turns simply reveal legs. A red felt lift-the-flap “blanket” on the cover is unlikely to rip but isn’t exactly the cuddliest material. Loopy, casually handwritten text sprawls across the versos, with occasional highlighted words composed of decorated multicolored letters. The rhyming text is as saccharine as the illustrations, with multiple “we love you” declarations. Strangely, the last page features an energetic line about parents needing sleep so they can wake up ready to tickle, a choice that counteracts much of the previously gentle language intended to induce sleep.
Cute but cloying. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-92799-4
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.
An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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