WE GO TOGETHER!

Name: WE GO TOGETHER!
Author: Todd Dunn
ISBN: 978-1-4549-0023-8

by Todd Dunn ; illustrated by Miki Sakamoto ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2013

While metaphor and simile are difficult for toddlers to grasp, the text is buoyant enough, and illustrations give youngsters...

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In rhyming couplets and jaunty cartoons, this celebration of maternal love depicts images of a variety of matching pairs.

The verse presents a string of similes—one line per page—and ranges from the everyday (“We go together like socks and shoes”) to the fantastical (“We go together like fire and dragon”). The meter mostly works, but there is a forced syllable or two in the mix. Sakamoto’s acrylic, gouache and pencil art grounds the text in a playful, kid-friendly world and uses a cast of multicultural people and lively animals. The last spread, featuring a Caucasian mother hugging her child of indeterminate gender opposite hearts, unfortunately steers the whole project into the cloying with the following line: “We go together, that’s what we do, because you love me and…I love you!”

While metaphor and simile are difficult for toddlers to grasp, the text is buoyant enough, and illustrations give youngsters plenty to admire and recognize. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4549-0023-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
WE GO TOGETHER!
by Todd Dunn & illustrated by Miki Sakamoto

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IN THE WIND

by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016

A gentle outing for children who are ready for stories of everyday life rather than just objects to name.

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A brief rhyming board book for toddlers.

Spurr's earlier board books (In the Garden and At the Beach, both 2012; In the Woods, 2013) featured an adventuresome little boy. Her new slice-of-life story stars an equally joyful little girl who takes pleasure in flying a new kite while not venturing far off the walkway. Oliphant's expressive and light-filled watercolors clearly depict the child's emotions—eager excitement on the way to the park, delight at the kite's flight in the wind, shock when the kite breaks free, dejection, and finally relief and amazement. The rhymes work, though uneven syllable counts in some stanzas interrupt the smooth flow of the verse. The illustrations depict the child with her mass of windblown curls, brown skin, and pronounced facial features as African-American. Her guardian (presumably her mother) is also brown-skinned. It is refreshing to see an African-American family settled comfortably in a suburban setting with single-family homes and a park where the family dog does not need to be leashed.

A gentle outing for children who are ready for stories of everyday life rather than just objects to name. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: March 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-56145-854-7

Page Count: 22

Publisher: Peachtree

Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
IN THE RAIN
by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant

- BOOK REVIEW
IN THE SNOW
by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant

- BOOK REVIEW
AT THE BEACH
by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant

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GOODNIGHT, NUMBERS

by Danica McKellar ; illustrated by Alicia Padrón ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2017

The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon.

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This bedtime book offers simple rhymes, celebrates the numbers one through 10, and encourages the counting of objects.

Each double-page spread shows a different toddler-and-caregiver pair, with careful attention to different skin tones, hair types, genders, and eye shapes. The pastel palette and soft, rounded contours of people and things add to the sleepy litany of the poems, beginning with “Goodnight, one fork. / Goodnight, one spoon. / Goodnight, one bowl. / I’ll see you soon.” With each number comes a different part in a toddler’s evening routine, including dinner, putting away toys, bathtime, and a bedtime story. The white backgrounds of the pages help to emphasize the bold representations of the numbers in both written and numerical forms. Each spread gives multiple opportunities to practice counting to its particular number; for example, the page for “four” includes four bottles of shampoo and four inlaid dots on a stool—beyond the four objects mentioned in the accompanying rhyme. Each home’s décor, and the array and types of toys and accoutrements within, shows a decidedly upscale, Western milieu. This seems compatible with the patronizing author’s note to adults, which accuses “the media” of indoctrinating children with fear of math “in our country.” Regardless, this sweet treatment of numbers and counting may be good prophylaxis against math phobia.

The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon. (Picture book. 2-4)