A very warm and satisfying bedtime book and a paean to penguins and winter delights.
“Winter is here.”
Five little penguins who live in an igloo with their mother are very excited. They see snowflakes, which means it’s winter, so naturally, it’s time to go outside. Imaginative and lovable illustrations of acrylic and cut-paper collage show the curious young birds as they dress up in their mittens, scarves, socks, and boots and head out into the very deep snow; children will easily identify with their mounting excitement. Minimal text makes this a very good choice for toddlers and other young listeners while leaving room for counting and giggling, and the mixture of make-believe and realistic detail works nicely, creating a winsome world full of gentle adventure. But wait, what’s happened to Mama? She’s watching over them from close by, of course, and soon it’s time for five little penguins to come in out of the cold, shed their winter gear, and have some cookies and “sippies” before burrowing into their inviting beds. Robinson’s penguins are created from elemental shapes: large circles form their heads, and then beaks, bodies, wings, and flippers in triangles of various sizes make up the rest of them. The combination of clarity, simplicity, warmth, light humor, and striking visuals makes this an excellent tale for the very young.
A very warm and satisfying bedtime book and a paean to penguins and winter delights. (Picture book. 1-5)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-50770-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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