While an admirable effort to give toddlers what they love, this and its companions are overly busy and prove that less is...
In this primer of common words for toddlers to learn, there are flaps to lift, textures to feel, and photos to name.
Each double-page spread focuses on a certain domain of a young child’s experiences and includes “Family,” “My Body,” “Food and Drink,” “Out and About,” and “Colors and Shapes.” The layout design repeats across the project, which includes eight flaps with photographs on the outer and inner flaps with a one-word caption and a larger image on the recto and a small textural element embedded inside. While the clear photos are an excellent choice for the very young, the flaps are on the small side for little ones still developing motor skills, as are most of the images and the textures. Some of the images above and below the flaps relate or are opposites (plane/sky and black/white); others come across as haphazardly connected (glasses/knee). The companion titles in the series follow the same formula. First 100 Things That Go divides vehicles up into very loose categories (planes with snow vehicles?), but the range of conveyances is impressive, from inner tube to space station. The groupings in First 100 Animals are a bit more cohesive, but the connections between the images on the outer and inner flaps are opaque in most cases except for the names of the grown-up and corresponding baby critters (sheep/lamb) on the farm-animal spread. The tot-sized handle at the top of each book will likely be a hit with this demographic.
While an admirable effort to give toddlers what they love, this and its companions are overly busy and prove that less is more with young children. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-90330-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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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
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