This appealingly illustrated, confidence-boosting board book will inspire little ones to think of—and perhaps catalog...
Krensky offers an unassuming celebration of a child’s burgeoning knowledge about the big, wide world she lives in.
In easy, rhyming verse, with only one short phrase per page, a youngster proclaims the many things she knows. For instance: “I know rocks are heavy, / and flowers are light. // I know bright means day, / and dark means night.” The narrator is an African-American preschooler with big eyes, braids and a sure smile. She is depicted tossing rocks into a river and flowers into the air, riding in a car, bouncing a ball, flying a kite, painting, brushing her teeth and playing the piano, often flanked by a group of ethnically diverse children and occasionally accompanied by her father. The first-person narration coupled with the familiar scenarios presented here will make it easy for children to relate. The charming illustrations, featuring round-eyed, rosy-cheeked youngsters frolicking about, have a vintage quality and are dominated by oranges, yellows and blues.
This appealingly illustrated, confidence-boosting board book will inspire little ones to think of—and perhaps catalog aloud—all of the important things they already know about their world. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0938-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
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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