MOVING BLOCKS

Name: MOVING BLOCKS
Author: Yusuke Yonezu
ISBN: 978-988-8240-70-8

by Yusuke Yonezu ; illustrated by Yusuke Yonezu ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2015

Millennial parents, and their parents, the grandparents of Generation Alpha, eager to encourage active play and hands-on...

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Colors, shapes, vehicles, and an invitation to play with blocks add up to a bonanza for imaginative toddlers.

Yonezu’s board book is reminiscent of Pat Hutchins' classic Changes Changes (1971) but with a modern, graphic style that calls to mind the art of Piet Mondrian. The concept is simple: things that go are built out of bright red, yellow, green, and blue squares, rectangles, and circles outlined in heavy black lines. Each section begins with the conversation starter: “What are you building? What can it be?” A turn of the die-cut page offers a hint about the sound of the vehicle and then the vehicle itself against a clean, white background. The first is a simple truck, with subsequent creations growing increasingly complex: a bus, a train, a ship, a plane, a rocket. Strong graphic design makes this effort aesthetically pleasing. Predicable repetition will help engage active toddlers. Best of all, similar, three-dimensional blocks are easy to find, making the final invitation—“What else can you build?”—one families can readily act on.

Millennial parents, and their parents, the grandparents of Generation Alpha, eager to encourage active play and hands-on experiences, will find this offering a pleasing board book to share with toddlers. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: June 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-988-8240-70-8

Page Count: 26

Publisher: minedition

Review Posted Online: April 28, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
SHARING
by Yusuke Yonezu ; illustrated by Yusuke Yonezu

- BOOK REVIEW
SEEK AND COUNT
by Yusuke Yonezu ; illustrated by Yusuke Yonezu

- BOOK REVIEW
WHY CRY?
by Yusuke Yonezu ; illustrated by Yusuke Yonezu

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SMILE, POUT-POUT FISH

by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 2014

An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WORRY-WORRY WHALE AND THE CLASSROOM JITTERS
by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna

- BOOK REVIEW
POUT-POUT FISH
by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna

- BOOK REVIEW
THE POUT-POUT FISH AND THE MAD, MAD DAY
by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna

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ALL ABOUT ME

From the Look & Learn series

by National Geographic ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 11, 2014

Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on...

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An exploration of the human body through colorful photos.

Every other double-page spread labels the individual parts on one major area: head, torso, back, arm and leg. Ethnically diverse boy-girl pairs serve as models as arrows point to specific features and captions float nearby. While the book usefully mentions rarely depicted body parts, such as eyebrow, armpit and shin, some of the directional arrows are unclear. The arrow pointing at a girl’s shoulder hits her in the upper arm, and the belly button is hard is distinguish from the stomach (both are concealed by shirts). Facts about the human body (“Guess what? You have tiny hairs in your nose that keep out dirt”) appear on alternating spreads along with photos of kids in action. Baby Animals, another title in the Look & Learn series, uses an identical format to introduce readers to seal pups, leopard cubs, elephant calves, ducklings and tadpoles. In both titles, the final spread offers a review of the information and encourages readers to match baby animals to their parents or find body parts on a photo of kids jumping on a trampoline.

Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on the right track despite earlier titles that were much too conceptual for the audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)