Bland in comparison to the exuberant likes of Anne Sibley O’Brien and Susan Gal’s Abracadabra, It’s Spring! (2016) or Karen...
Sammy the cat takes a stroll outside with his stuffed horse, Hob, to admire springtime sights.
First Sammy puts on his shoes and socks, then ventures out to ride and walk over grassy knolls sprinkled with small flowers as birds and bunnies look on. He rides a succession of vehicles from a (pink) bicycle (sans helmet) to a “nice tractor,” gently wakes a family of sleeping hedgehogs, goes on to plant garden seedlings, then returns home for dinner. The simply phrased narrative and bright, sunny domestic and outdoor scenes are printed on card stock with rounded corners. Each double-page spread is also furnished with half-page flaps that conceal not twists or surprises but simply predictable next moments in the outing. There is one minor bobble (probably a glitch in the uncredited translation from the original Dutch): For “dinner” Sammy “eats tomatoes, cucumber and bread,” which U.S. readers are likely to feel sounds a lot more like “lunch” or “snack” and which omits the slice of Swiss cheese that’s clearly visible on the bread. Nevertheless, this offers no real stumbling block to enjoyment of the seasonally themed ramble.
Bland in comparison to the exuberant likes of Anne Sibley O’Brien and Susan Gal’s Abracadabra, It’s Spring! (2016) or Karen Katz’s Baby Loves Spring (2012), but sometimes that’s just the ticket. (Picture book/novelty. 2-4)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-60537-367-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Who knew that turning the pages could be the best part of a book?
The concept of this picture book is simple enough: 10 birds topple, slip, and dive their way off the titular twig until there is one left. The text itself echoes familiar singsong-y children’s rhymes like “Five Little Pumpkins.” While it mostly succeeds, there are some awkward spots: “5 on a twig, there used to be more… / SNAP! Don’t say a word, now there are four.” (On each page the number is both spelled out and represented as a numeral). The real scene stealer, however, is the book’s interplay between Cole’s illustrations and the physical pages themselves. In much the same way Eric Carle utilizes the pages in The Very Hungry Caterpillar to show the little critter eating its way through the week, Cole uses pages of increasing width to show how the twig grows shorter as each bird falls and marches off purposefully with the others, all headed toward verso with pieces of twig in their beaks. Stylistically, the book is captivating. The very colorful, egg-shaped birds appear on a single, thin black line on a stark white background. This backdrop stands in powerful contrast to the book’s final two pages, which are set against black negative space, a theme echoed in the book’s feather-print endpapers. The heavy, thick pages make it easy for little hands to participate. The text takes a back seat to the playful and compelling design, which is sure to delight readers.
Who knew that turning the pages could be the best part of a book? (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72821-593-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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