Worth it for the Spanish rendition—which those who don’t speak the language will be happy to have learned.
With this fifth addition to her Canticos line of songs for babies, Venezuelan-born Jaramillo partners Mexico’s Day of the Dead’s painted skeletons, or “calacas,” with a popular Latin American children’s song, “Los Esqueletos.”
This how-to-tell-time counting rhyme is punctuated by the catchy refrain “Tomb-a-laca tomb-a-laca tomb-a tomb-a, tomb-a-laca” and follows the nattily dressed skeletons as they emerge from their tombs (tumbas). The clock counts up from one to 12, while the bony party animals eat, dance, and play. The Spanish language lyrics beg to be shared with laugh-out-loud abandon. However, “esqueletitos” becomes the Spanglish word “skeletitos” instead of “little skeletons” for the sake of maintaining the meter. Unfortunately, this modification isn’t enough to make the stanzas work. The English-language translation is forced and awkward in too many instances. “When the old clock strikes the hour of three, / three skeletitos backwards flee!” Rather than rewriting the lyrics, Jaramillo must rely on near rhymes since the eye-catching black-and-white illustrations are identical for both versions. Sadly, aside from a clock with movable hands, the interactive elements of Jaramillo’s previous books are lacking here. The accordion-fold design, on the other hand, continues to ensure that neither the Spanish nor English text takes precedence over the other. A free downloadable app of the song is available for home enjoyment.
Worth it for the Spanish rendition—which those who don’t speak the language will be happy to have learned. (Board book. 1-5)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-945635-06-9
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Encantos
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Sure to appeal to budding paleontologists everywhere.
Colorful, fun, and informative guide for pint-sized dinosaur enthusiasts.
Kid-friendly and more informative than most dino books for tots, this lift-the-flap dinosaur book is a great next step for any kid with an interest in the subject. Each double-page panorama—occasionally folding out to three or even four pages wide—is organized around types of dinosaurs or habitats. While most featured dinosaurs are land dwellers, prehistoric reptiles of the sea and sky appear as well. Dinosaurs are rendered in bright colors on a white background in a childlike style that makes even Tyrannosaurus rex not too terrifying. Make no mistake, though; the king of the dinosaurs is clearly labeled “CARNIVORE.” Folding T. rex’s head back reveals a black-and-white handsaw, to which the text likens its enormous, sharp teeth. Another marginal illustration, captioned, “Watch out! T. rex is looking for its lunch,” shows a Triceratops specimen on a plate. Yet another reads, “Crushed dinosaur bones have been found in T. rex poop!” Several racially diverse kids appear in each scene, like toddler scientists variously observing, inspecting, and riding on the dinosaurs depicted. In addition to teaching the difference between herbivores and carnivores, the book also conveys a sense of the scale of these prehistoric beasts: Diplodocus is two school buses long, a Triceratops adult is the size of an elephant, and a Velociraptor is the size of a turkey, for example.
Sure to appeal to budding paleontologists everywhere. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0809-2
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A cheery board book to reinforce the oneness of babykind.
Ten babies in 10 countries greet friends in almost 10 languages.
Countries of origin are subtly identified. For example, on the first spread, NYC is emblazoned on a blond, white baby’s hat as well as a brown baby’s scoot-car taxi. On the next spread, “Mexico City” is written on a light brown toddler’s bike. A flag in each illustration provides another hint. However, the languages are not named, so on first reading, the fine but important differences between Spanish and Portuguese are easily missed. This is also a problem on pages showing transliterated Arabic from Cairo and Afrikaans from Cape Town. Similarly, Chinese and Japanese are transliterated, without use of traditional hànzì or kanji characters. British English is treated as a separate language, though it is, after all, still English. French (spoken by 67 million people) is included, but German, Russian, and Hindi (spoken by 101 million, 145 million, and 370 million respectively) are not. English translations are included in a slightly smaller font. This world survey comes full circle, ending in San Francisco with a beige baby sleeping in an equally beige parent’s arms. The message of diversity is reinforced by images of three babies—one light brown, one medium brown, one white—in windows on the final spread.
A cheery board book to reinforce the oneness of babykind. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-938093-87-6
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Duo Press
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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