While a clever idea, as young children are often obsessed with bags and packs, parents wishing to avoid the overt marketing...
A branded lift-the-flap offering featuring five Skip Hop animal backpacks.
On each double-page spread, a creature uses the Skip Hop pack that it resembles. A bee, which is somehow able to wear a backpack despite (impossibly) having no limbs at all, is paired with the popular bee pack, and a penguin sports a penguin bag. On the left-hand page, the toddlerlike, cartoon animals, in subtly muted colors, are shown either on their way to school or engaged in preschool classroom activities. The facing page is a large representation of the Skip Hop backpack, the bottom-half of which is a relatively sturdy flap. The text, with a gentle rhyme scheme, consists of a simple first-person statement made by the character in the spotlight, along with a question encouraging readers to open the flap: “I’m a little Ladybug. I love story time best! / What food is inside my backpack?” The answer to the query is on the lower half of the flap, which opens down: “Bugs! Didn’t you guess?” The last two pages inform readers that school is over and show all the backpacks, again bearing flaps, lined up in classroom cubbies. Behind the flaps, the packs contain artwork created by the animals that relate to their interests, such as the elephant with a picture of the savanna and the monkey with a drawing of a tree.
While a clever idea, as young children are often obsessed with bags and packs, parents wishing to avoid the overt marketing ploy should seek another title. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-49749-7
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An effervescent celebration of play in the early years.
As with Spanyol’s stellar Clive books, Rosa’s favorite activities buck gender stereotypes.
The toddler races toy cars, jumps monster trucks, and builds a car out of a cardboard box with her buddies in what looks like a day care or preschool setting. Spanyol’s childlike lines, soft palette, and chunky figures are as cheerful as ever. The text is mostly straightforward, simple narration peppered with exclamations from Rosa and her chums: “Rosa and Marcel play in the sandpit. ‘Dig-a-dig, dig-a-dig, scoop!’ sings Rosa.” Rosa has brown skin and black, curly hair, and she wears bright yellow eyeglasses. Her friends include Samira, who uses a wheelchair and is likely of South Asian descent; Mustafa, who appears black; Biba, who has light-brown skin and straight, black hair; and Sarah and Marcel, who both present white. Three other equally charming titles accompany this offering. In Rosa and Her Dinosaurs, the heroine dons a purple dress and plays with a collection of toy dinosaurs. Rosa and her buds (all wearing helmets) roll through the pages of Rosa Rides Her Scooter. And in Rosa Plays Ball, Rosa pushes a cart with various kinds of balls to toss about with her friends outside.
An effervescent celebration of play in the early years. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78628-125-8
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fun but inessential novelty, as much toy as book.
A familiar song repackaged as a board book doubles as a finger puppet.
Many a caregiver has sung this refrain to a newborn or toddler, ignoring the decidedly sad lyrics of the original. Magsamen lays claim and sweetens it up. She uses only the chorus and changes the last line to “I’ll give you lots of hugs… / and kisses every day” instead of the expected “Please don’t take my sunshine away.” Her cheery artwork, reminiscent of applique, recalls the song’s country-music roots and is anything but sad. The pages are decorated with hearts and cuddly-looking caregiver-child animal pairs—foxes, skunks with sunny yellow umbrellas, bunnies, raccoons, and squirrels. The thick, heart-shaped pages include a circular die-cut hole through which readers might poke the smiling felt sun puppet attached to the back cover. A finger inserted from the back makes the sun wiggle and will capture even the youngest baby’s attention. The puppet feature does not obstruct the initial page turns, but when a toddler says, “Do it again” (as they doubtless will), quickly re-positioning the finger puppet is somewhat challenging.
A fun but inessential novelty, as much toy as book. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-30576-0
Page Count: 6
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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