Board books with flaps and set on a farm have been done more successfully many times before.
Owl searches this lift-the-flap farm for his missing scarf.
“Where can it be? Is it between the branches?” asks the Q-and-A text. Under a flap, readers see the answer, and the text reads: “No! This is Chipmunk, gathering some acorns. Chip! Chip!” The pattern continues on each double-page spread as Owl searches behind bales of hay, pumpkins, corn stalks, garbage cans, and cattails “by the stream” to discover a variety of critters who don’t have his scarf. The missing accessory is finally found around Turkey’s neck. Belloni employs realistic textures in the art to create veined leaves and fuzzy raccoons. However, her cartoons are too stiff at times, and the glitter on Turkey’s feathers and Owl’s scarf in the final image seems an out-of-place gimmick. Some of the flaps offer clues as to which animal is underneath, while others do not, and this lack of consistency is a real liability in a book for this audience.
Board books with flaps and set on a farm have been done more successfully many times before. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0176-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.
An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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