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HAVE YOU SEEN BUNNY?

Name: HAVE YOU SEEN BUNNY?
Author: Smriti Prasadam
ISBN: 978-1-40831-499-9

From the Go, Baby! series

by Smriti Prasadam ; illustrated by Michelle Berg ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2013

A fine choice for lift-the-flap fans, but touch-and-feel enthusiasts should try other offerings.

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A lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel peekaboo experience for little ones.
On the left side of each spread, the text poses a variety of questions about Bunny’s whereabouts. One image (a bird, a mushroom, or a dragonfly) from the much busier right-hand side appears front and center. On the right, readers are encouraged to lift a relatively sturdy, shaped flap embedded in the landscape to see if Bunny is hiding underneath. Behind the first four flaps, youngsters encounter a lamb, a hedgehog, a deer and a badger in their habitats, and each creature features a small textural element. On the last page and below the final flap, Bunny nibbles on cabbages behind a garden gate. Berg’s clear, stylized cartoons in rich colors are both simple and detailed, making them easy for little ones who are learning to name their world. Unfortunately, the tactile components are really too small to be satisfying, and the textures do not always connect with their host (a smooth hedgehog and a ribbed carrot?). The sister title, Have You Seen Duck?, follows the same text and layout patterns, but this time, it’s Duck who’s on the loose. The textural elements here are better matched, but they still run on the small side. In both titles, the black text against a dark blue background on a couple pages is difficult to read.

A fine choice for lift-the-flap fans, but touch-and-feel enthusiasts should try other offerings. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: June 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-40831-499-9

Page Count: 12

Publisher: Trafalgar Square

Review Posted Online: May 21, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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SPOOKY POOKIE

by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
HIPPOS REMAIN CALM
by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton

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WOO HOO! YOU'RE DOING GREAT!
by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton

- BOOK REVIEW
HAPPY EASTER, LITTLE POOKIE
by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton

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SMILE, POUT-POUT FISH

by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 2014

An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.

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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)