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LOVE IS IN THE LITTLE THINGS

The “I love you so much” bookshelf can never be too full.

“Love is in…each small sight and sound.”

Gentle prose from veteran children’s author Jones details the many everyday moments full of love: “through summer, winter, / fall, and spring.” Written in the first person, the reassurances of love in all the little things follow a nursery rhyme–like rhythm expertly crafted to comfort little ones. There are verses devoted to smiles, hugs, bubble baths, and bedtime kisses. Spot art and full-page spreads follow a slightly anthropomorphized, giant teddy of a bear and a towheaded, light-skinned human child. The bear appears to be the child’s caretaker, and the two watch fireworks, read bedtime stories, dance, tell jokes, have tea parties and baths, and so on. The sketchy visuals err on the side of oversimplified. A scene where the two gaze at each other while the text refers to “quiet, love-filled, gentle smiles” that “mean more than words can say” leaves the characters looking more blank than loving. While nothing in the prose or the nameless characters offers anything particularly grand or memorable, this offering will make a serviceable script for real-life caretakers reading aloud to sleepy listeners; as the book makes abundantly clear—“love is in the little things,” after all.

The “I love you so much” bookshelf can never be too full. (Picture book. 1-5)

Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023

ISBN: 9781664300415

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tiger Tales

Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023

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THE WONDERFUL THINGS YOU WILL BE

A GROWING-UP POEM

Wonderful, indeed

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  • New York Times Bestseller

A love song to baby with delightful illustrations to boot.

Sweet but not saccharine and singsong but not forced, Martin’s text is one that will invite rereadings as it affirms parental wishes for children while admirably keeping child readers at its heart. The lines that read “This is the first time / There’s ever been you, / So I wonder what wonderful things / You will do” capture the essence of the picture book and are accompanied by a diverse group of babies and toddlers clad in downright adorable outfits. Other spreads include older kids, too, and pictures expand on the open text to visually interpret the myriad possibilities and hopes for the depicted children. For example, a spread reading “Will you learn how to fly / To find the best view?” shows a bespectacled, school-aged girl on a swing soaring through an empty white background. This is just one spread in which Martin’s fearless embrace of the white of the page serves her well. Throughout the book, she maintains a keen balance of layout choices, and surprising details—zebras on the wallpaper behind a father cradling his child, a rock-’n’-roll band of mice paralleling the children’s own band called “The Missing Teeth”—add visual interest and gentle humor. An ideal title for the baby-shower gift bag and for any nursery bookshelf or lap-sit storytime.

Wonderful, indeed . (Picture book. 1-4)

Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-385-37671-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015

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PEANUT BUTTER & CUPCAKE

Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school...

The familiar theme of the challenges facing a new kid in town is given an original treatment by photographer Border in this book of photos of three-dimensional objects in a simple modeled landscape.

Peanut Butter is represented by a slice of white bread spread with the popular condiment. The other characters in the story—a hamburger with a pair of hot dogs in tow, a bowl of alphabet soup, a meatball jumping a rope of spaghetti, a carton of French fries and a pink cupcake—are represented by skillfully crafted models of these foods, anthropomorphized using simple wire construction. Rejected by each character in turn in his search for playmates, Peanut Butter discovers in the end that Jelly is his true match (not Cupcake, as the title suggests), perhaps because she is the only one who looks like him, being a slice of white bread spread with jelly. The friendly foods end up happily playing soccer together. Some parents may have trouble with the unabashedly happy depiction of carbs and American junk food (no carrots or celery sticks in this landscape), and others may find themselves troubled by the implication that friendship across difference is impossible.

Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: July 29, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-399-16773-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014

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