While the puzzle gimmick may hold youngsters' interest for a few readings, it is unlikely to have a long shelf life.
Another overdesigned board book, with puzzle pieces this time, from PANTONE, the company that creates the widely used color matching system.
Each double-page spread focuses on one color of the rainbow. The left-hand side is a full-page, graphically minded scene using a variety of hues of the color in question. On the facing pages, the PANTONE chips make their appearance, four shades occupying the four quadrants of the page separated by a bold white line in typical PANTONE fashion. Both sides of each page spread carry four shaped indentations to hold abstract puzzle shapes made of paperboard. Featuring machines that go on the left, the red spread has pieces that become the door and siren on a fire truck. These same pieces fit into slots labeled “Stop Sign Red / PANTONE 485” and “Brick Red / PANTONE 7627” on the right. While the cartoon tableaux are droll, the use of PANTONE numbers will make little sense to youngsters. The puzzle pieces themselves are relatively easy to get in and out once loosened, but, after a few readings, they will likely flake at the edges if they are not lost altogether. The small pieces force this message on the back cover: “WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD—Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.”
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0939-5
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
There are enough color-concept books for young children to overflow a crayon box without adding this developmentally...
Illustrator Girard's visually striking work suffers from uninspired text.
The chunky compilation features crisp lines and patterns. Bare of references to Girard's career, the introduction seeks to provide a total visual experience rather than an introduction to the artist. Slight rhyming phrases detract rather than enhance, implying relationships that don't exist. “A daisy in the garden, / green and growing; / multi-colored friends, / where are they going?” illustrates, first, a stylized daisy-woman and then a tiny army of three-dimensional figures, for instance. The flimsy spine proves too weak to support repeated readings of the 58-page book. Some descriptions fail to identify the shades featured in the illustrations (this is a book about colors), and the text itself is often confusing, peppered with oddly placed commas. “Alexander Girard, shows us colors in this book.”
There are enough color-concept books for young children to overflow a crayon box without adding this developmentally inappropriate offering to the mix. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-9344-2977-8
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Ammo
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
The flimsy construction and poor art and verse make it ill-suited for older children, too.
In this “pull-the-tab book about the seasons,” a chick and a bluebird visit the same tree throughout the year.
Readers pull none-too-sturdy sliding panels to alter the tree’s appearance. In the four internal double-page spreads, autumn leaves fall off the tree, snow covers it, blossoms speckle it, and apples change from green to red in this before-and-after interactive feature. The graphically flat art in springtime colors is rather fussy; the striped backgrounds resembling wallpaper patterns in various muted hues are an odd choice for these outdoor scenes. The rhyming verse, with stilted line breaks, describes the birds’ reactions to the changing seasons: “Chick Pea and Sweet Pea look up and see / new leaves and flowers all over the tree! / But the flowers drop their petals. / They’re starting to fall. / And Chick Pea is trying to / catch them all.” The pull-tab also reveals an additional couplet in which an unseen narrator reassures the critters and gives hints as to what the duo will see next season. While is does not point to any choking hazards, the fine print on the back of the book states that it is “Not suitable for children under 3 years of age.”
The flimsy construction and poor art and verse make it ill-suited for older children, too. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7641-6593-1
Page Count: 8
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
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