A club that everyone will want to join.
Answers many questions kids may have when a new baby is on the way.
Told from the perspective of a wise group of older siblings—who have already gone through the experience of welcoming a new member (the reader) to the Big Kids Club—this book is presented as the guide the big kids wish they had had at the time. A single question is posed on the verso of each spread and answered on the recto. The first musing is “Can my baby see me?” Careful to be mindful of all abilities, the Big Kids Club answers: “All babies are different, and not all of them are born being able to see.” They go on to explain how vision develops slowly with focus and colors, but “if your baby can’t see, you can make them laugh using different senses.” Other wonderings include “What does it mean when my baby cries?” “When can my baby talk to me?” and the ever important “Why does my baby poop so much?” The bigger kids and younger tots reflect a wide diversity of ethnicities and wear fantastically patterned attire throughout. The congratulatory tone and initiation into a secret club just may be the hook some new siblings need to feel special. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A club that everyone will want to join. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35073-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers.
The team of Costain and Lovšin (Daddies are Awesome, 2016) gives moms their due.
Rhyming verses tell of all the ways moms are amazing: “Mommies are magic. / They kiss away troubles… // …find gold in the sunlight / and rainbows in bubbles.” Moms are joyful—the best playmates. They are also fearless and will protect and soothe if you are scared. Clever moms know just what to do when you’re sad, sporty moms run and leap and climb, while tender moms cuddle. “My mommy’s so special. / I tell her each day… // … just how much I love her / in every way!” Whereas dads were illustrated with playful pups and grown-up dogs in the previous book, moms are shown as cats with their kittens in myriad colors, sizes, and breeds. Lovšin’s cats look as though they are smiling at each other in their fun, though several spreads are distractingly cut in half by the gutter. However delightful the presentation—the verse rolls fairly smoothly, and the cats are pretty cute—the overall effect is akin to a cream puff’s: very sweet and insubstantial.
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-651-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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