Not an essential purchase, but this playful romp from one to 10 with a whale, lions, blue bears, pink elephants, crocodiles,...
Rhyming text and cartoony creatures careen across the sturdy pages of this board book.
A numeral placed on one of the corners of each two-page display accompanies a rhyming couplet that identifies the animal pictured and some detail of its habitat or behavior. Of course, none of these animals or the environments they are shown in look like anything in nature, but young children won't have any trouble recognizing them. The iconic images clearly communicate each critter’s essential features. The rhymes trip nicely off the tongue, too. “In the forest, three bears scurry. / Why are they in such a hurry?” (However, shared spelling doesn't make “one” rhyme with “gone.”) In each verse the number is spelled out and enlarged to stand out prominently, as are most of the ending rhymes. Other words, mostly verbs, are also printed larger—perhaps to encourage adult readers to emphasize the action. The final spread mixes up all the animals, one whale through 10 monkeys.
Not an essential purchase, but this playful romp from one to 10 with a whale, lions, blue bears, pink elephants, crocodiles, pandas, foxes, penguins, parrots, and monkeys keeps the learning light. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6937-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
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
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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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