Cuddle up to share these hugs and kisses.
This cheerful board book is a sugary paean to love.
A smiling panda with black felt arms and ears on the cover looks ready for a hug. Sadly, that is the only tactile element. Within, rhyming text dances across each page using a typeface designed to look handwritten. Brightly colored parent-and-child animal pairs illustrate each verse, with stitching outlining key features. The lines alternate between “Hug me when…” and “Kiss me when…,” with the critical verb sweetly decorated. Situations described are common experiences for toddlers. A baby bird in a pram is clearly taking a walk, while on the opposite page two ducks “quack and talk.” Unfortunately, rhyming “zoo” with “boo-boo” requires an extra syllable, which throws off the rhyme scheme for that stanza. The final double-page spread shows only one of each animal, each with a heart-shaped “kiss” stitched on its cheek. The text spans both pages, which could confuse readers who have learned to anticipate the story's pattern. That's probably OK, since the rhyme is intact: “Hugs and Kisses everywhere we go— / because I love, love, love you so!” Saying it three times may be a bit much, but most tots enjoy hearing they are loved.
Cuddle up to share these hugs and kisses. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-92796-3
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2016
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A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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
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