A die cut above typical holiday board books.
A trio of children search through egg-shaped board-book pages for a missing Easter egg.
A White tot with shoulder-length red hair, a Black tot with short, curly hair, and a brown-skinned tyke with straight, black hair observe, in the first-person-plural narration, that they have not yet found the golden egg. Readers, however, see it through egg-shaped die cuts that reduce in size as pages are turned. The kids wonder if the egg is in the birdhouse, in the carrot patch, or inside a chocolate bunny. A few more children (racially diverse) join in the hunt along with a yellow chick, a bow-tie–wearing bunny, and other springtime critters. When readers get to the final spread, a gold-foil egg is visible inside the chicken coop—it turns out the chick that has been following along with the children has hidden it there. Companion title The Valentine Is Missing!, also by Platt but illustrated by Anne Passchier, follows a similar premise as racially diverse kids search for their teacher’s missing valentine (she is depicted as a woman of color). Here, a shiny, red heart is visible through the heart-shaped pages. The jewel-toned art style is cheerful, bright, and graphically accessible across both offerings. While the gimmick makes for a playful reading experience for the very young, the hide-and-seek queries may prove confusing to literal-minded toddlers since the object is visible through every hole on the recto.
A die cut above typical holiday board books. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-19265-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Cute and sprightly but not a standout.
Deck the stalls?
A bevy of barnyard animals, a cat, and some dogs get fully into the Christmas spirit by sprucing up the farm with colorful decorations, including holly berries and sparkling baubles. They have a great time and sing while going about their merry chores in a manner somewhat in keeping with the rhythm of the classic tune “Deck the Halls.” (In fact, a flock of sheep are shown holding song sheets for it.) As might be expected with these particular celebrants, some of the familiar lyrics are altered just a bit; for instance, “boughs of holly” is “translated” as “cows and holly.” Adult readers expecting the rhythm here to work exactly as it does in the original will be disappointed, because it doesn’t—it’s clunky. This is merely a brief, lightweight spoof of the familiar ditty, so it’s recommended that grown-ups read rather than sing this—except for that final line!—to very young targeted audiences, who may be unfamiliar with the actual song anyway. Some fun is still to be had in the illustrations, however. The spirited, wittily expressive animal characters are depicted having a fine time romping about and producing a variety of onomatopoeic sounds throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cute and sprightly but not a standout. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66591-435-2
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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