Colorful, kid-friendly fun—and Momo! What more could readers want? (Board book. 2-5)
Books, blog, Instagram, and Facebook—where else can readers find Momo?
Momo, the black-and-white border collie, is back in his third hide-and-seek board book, and he is still a lot of fun to find on each page. Using a format similar to his previous two board books, author and photographer Knapp (Find Momo Coast to Coast, 2015) has Momo hiding in an enjoyable variety of settings, including a play set in a backyard, the corner of a library, in a barnyard, in a kitchen, and in a preschool. On each verso page are four color photographs of what readers should be looking for, each labeled underneath in uppercase letters—Momo, of course, along with three common objects that are to be found in the photograph on the opposite page. Objects include a red pail, a yellow rain boot, a clock, a steel watering can, and a blue birdhouse. This is an enjoyably challenging way for young children to learn the names of familiar household and outdoor objects as well as colors. Some of the objects found are in a different orientation from the one that is shown; the gardening fork is shown vertically on verso and horizontally on the right, which makes them occasionally difficult to spot. Similar in mission to the I Spy or Where’s Waldo books for this age group, the excellent photography’s artful compositions, including the hidden Momo, make it a lot more entertaining.
Colorful, kid-friendly fun—and Momo! What more could readers want? (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-59474-958-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
A clever conceit but a bland execution.
In this minimalist Australian import, readers are encouraged to guess animals based on select written and visual clues.
On each recto, readers see the hindquarters of an animal, and three simple clues ask them to guess what kind of animal they may belong to. “I have long furry ears and a small nose. / I live in a burrow in the ground. / I have a white fluffy tail. / I AM A….” The splashy watercolor rear legs and tail are ambiguous enough that they may have readers second-guessing the obvious answer. Turning the page, however, readers discover both the well-defined front half of the animal and the animal’s name: “RABBIT.” Canty uses stock 19th-century animal illustrations layered with watercolor enhancements, creating a somber yet surprising tone. Two tailless animals, a frog and human readers, are included in the roster, making the “tails” referenced in the title symbolic rather than literal. Two red herrings, the image of a mouse between the clues for and image of an elephant and (inexplicably) a squirrel leading to a giraffe, fall flat, with no other cues to young readers that they are jokes. The quirky illustrations, earthy colors, and lack of exhibited enthusiasm will make this book’s audience a niche one. There is no backmatter.
A clever conceit but a bland execution. (Informational picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0033-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Ho-hum.
A riff on the familiar lullaby depicts various animal parents, and then a human father, soothing their sleepy little ones.
An opening spread includes the traditional first verse of the titular lullaby, but instead of depicting a human baby in a treetop cradle, the accompanying illustration shows a large tree as habitat to the animals that are highlighted on subsequent pages. First the perspective zooms in on a painterly illustration rendered in acrylics of a mother squirrel cuddling her baby with text reading “Rock-a-bye Squirrel, / high in the tree, / in Mommy’s arms, / cozy as can be.” In this spread and others the cadence doesn’t quite fit with the familiar tune, and repeated verses featuring different animals—all opening with the “Rock-a-bye” line—don’t give way to the resolution. No winds blow, no boughs break, and the repetitive forced rhythm of the verse could cause stumbles when attempting a read-aloud. The final image of a human father and baby, whose skin tone and hair texture suggest that they are perhaps of South Asian descent, provides pleasing visual resolution in a book with art that outshines text.
Ho-hum. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3753-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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