“Your family’s a story / That’s unique and true. // A family is beautiful, / As beautiful as you.” Can't argue with that!
A celebration of the myriad permutations of the all-American family.
The book is similar in tone, design, and message to Saks and Smart’s earlier Families Belong (2020). The many families shown combine to represent a range of racial, ethnic, and gender configurations. The accompanying rhyming verses recognize each family’s circumstances, interests, and activities as unique strengths—neither right nor wrong, just different. In one family, the father lying on the floor to play a board game wears a turban. In another, the blond-bearded man has a pale complexion, the woman is dark-skinned with straight black hair, and the child looks like the woman. The accompanying text reads: “A family can look / The same or maybe not. / Dad’s from somewhere cold. / Mom’s from somewhere hot.” Another verse hints at a family’s refugee status: “Some families were born / In places far away / And traveled all together / To where it’s safe to play.” Single, same-gender, and separated or divorced parents are depicted as well as a multigenerational family. Children familiar with the Noodle Loaf podcast version of the song may be initially confused by the added verses and minor word changes, but the new verses fit the original song’s cadence. Playful, clear, uncluttered graphic illustrations match the text while adding details not mentioned in the verses.
“Your family’s a story / That’s unique and true. // A family is beautiful, / As beautiful as you.” Can't argue with that! (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22365-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Not a great choice for the youngest dinosaur lovers.
A board-book ode to parental love as old as the dinosaurs.
A line of text on the left of each spread reads like a dinosaur-themed valentine that a third grader might choose, with punishingly punny wordplay that incorporates dinosaur-related words. On the facing page a dinosaur pair—a baby and an adult—gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes against whimsical, pastel-hued prehistoric-ish backgrounds. In smaller print, in all caps, at the bottom of the left page is the scientific name for the dinosaur referenced by the text and picture followed by a helpful phonetic pronunciation guide. White-outlined footprints appear next to their names, though the white is sometimes difficult to see against the pastel pages. Ten of the best-known dinosaurs are included. Twisting the dinosaur names to fit the loving sentiments succeeds some of the time but more often results in tortured text, well beyond the understanding of the board book audience. The line accompanying two hugging velociraptors, for instance, is just confusing: “Wrap-TOR arms around me, / with you I’ll always stay.” Others are just plain clumsy: “I-wanna-GUANODON you kisses, / I truly just adore you.” Very young children, even those fascinated by dinosaurs, will not get it. Older dinosaur fans will be put off by the babyish format.
Not a great choice for the youngest dinosaur lovers. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2295-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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
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