Unsuccessful; look for offerings by Hervé Tullet and Betsy Snyder for better versions of this gimmick.
Two fingers can slide through the two holes cut through the book to act as stand-ins for arms or legs of the characters within.
Each scene represents a different sport, activity, or artistic pursuit, with the text a simple three-word invitation with the appropriate verb swapped in. For example, in the spread captioned “Swim with me,” a bikini-wearing swimmer floats in an inner tube as readers’ fingers act as kicking legs, and in “Walk with me,” the readers’ digits become an astronaut’s legs on a spacewalk. The gimmick works well when the fingers act as legs, with the ballet dancing, swinging at the playground, and skateboarding pages some of the most satisfying. However, it is unclear what the fingers-as-arms are supposed to do in the “Celebrate with me” party spread and the volleyball scene. Baruzzi’s highly saturated images with smooth lines feature one solo figure in each tableau. Only three people with darker-than-pale skin tones are depicted out of the 13 figures presented, and some of these activities veer toward stereotype (two of the children who look to be of African descent drum and play basketball). While the pages are thick, they are thinner than typical board-book stock and may not hold up well to robust play.
Unsuccessful; look for offerings by Hervé Tullet and Betsy Snyder for better versions of this gimmick. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-988-8341-71-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
This will have readers putting on their dancing shoes to do the “cha cha cha” with their dino-babies
It's not the first time dinosaurs have been featured in a clever Boynton board book. It seems she—and we—can't get enough.
As her fans know, Boynton has a sly wit that respects the intelligence of her young fans and amuses the adults asked to “read it again.” In this book she introduces nine dinosaurs, each of which dances in a way that seems totally appropriate for that particular species. “The blue Stegosaurus goes SHIMMY SHIMMY SHAKE. / The red Brontosaurus goes QUIVERY QUAKE.” Drawing on her experience as a children’s musician, she writes a text that trips along like a song with rhymes that make sense but don't intrude. The illustrations, typical Boynton, reflect her greeting-card background. They are cartoonish but manage to capture the unique personality of each creature. The unnamed dinosaur narrator looks genuinely distraught at not being able to name the “tiny little dino” that “goes DEEDLY DEE.” Spoiler alert: the tiny little dinosaur is probably Compsognathus and would be about the size of a small chicken. Young dinophiles would be impressed if the dinosaurologists in their lives could supply that factoid, but alas, they will have to look it up.
This will have readers putting on their dancing shoes to do the “cha cha cha” with their dino-babies . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8099-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet but not essential book.
A whole host of children presents a whole host of balls in this new installment in the Baby Unplugged series.
There are so many kinds of balls in this little board book. Big ball, shiny ball, game ball, plain ball, spot ball. And not all are necessarily balls. Some are round objects, like the snowball and the clay ball or the blueberry that is a “tiny ball.” Some balls are verb balls, like the “throw ball, / catch ball, / go ball, / fetch ball!” There is even a gotcha! ball that’s “not ball”—it’s a cube! And all these balls are being played with by an equally eclectic group of children. African-American, Asian, brown-skinned, and blond and brunette white children are all represented here in illustrations that are charming and clear but not particularly artful. It feels as though both author and illustrator are trying so hard to include so much that they’ve almost forgotten to have fun. It’s reminiscent of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish but without the spark that turns an OK book into a timeless classic. Best suited for young children who are already quite verbal.
A sweet but not essential book. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-936669-42-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: blue manatee press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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