While this and Hello Winter! complete Hello Kitty’s year, they are not quite as successful as the earlier volumes.
In the follow-up to Hello Spring! and Hello Summer! (2013), Sanrio’s Hello Kitty explores fall activities.
The iconic white kitty and several of her friends visit a pumpkin patch, enjoy a variety of pumpkin and apple pies, play football and more in double-page spreads that feature bold, black outlines and highly saturated, flat colors. The text is composed of simple greetings to the various autumnal scenes (“Hello hay rides! / Hello school bus!”) and appears on the upper-left or upper-right side of the page in bold white type. The companion book, Hello Winter! (978-1-4197-0797-1), uses exactly the same format to depict kitty and company building snowmen, drinking hot cocoa and roasting marshmallows. A few of the activities in both titles are not particularly toddler-friendly, such as going ice fishing and riding in hot air balloons. One scene in particular, showing the kitten getting dressed and captioned “Hello flannel!,” is an odd choice considering little ones are still learning to label basic articles of clothing let alone the fabric they are made out of.
While this and Hello Winter! complete Hello Kitty’s year, they are not quite as successful as the earlier volumes. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: July 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0799-5
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
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
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