The charm of the illustrations cannot redeem their poor interaction with the text.
Ten ducklings brave a dip in a child’s wading pool.
“One fluffy duck goes waddling one day. / Two fluffy ducks have found a place to play!” The verse counts its way up to 10 as more and more white ducks enter stage left. When each bird arrives, it ascends a short ladder and crosses a low diving board, but the ducks never make it into the water until the last spread, where the text re-states the title: “SPLISH, SPLASH, SPLOSH!” Various slapstick difficulties impede the critters’ attempts to swim, such as a tree branch that snags one duckling’s inner tube to leave the creature tantalizingly dangling over the water. While the rhyming text scans, it does not always coincide with the jaunty cartoons. The ducks do not look particularly fluffy. A couple of times the birds are said to be grinning or talking, but their bills never reflect this. One of the ducklings is called “Splosh,” but none of the others are named. Melling’s pen-and-ink drawings in fluid lines and muted colors are a delight and have a pleasingly retro look and feel; here’s hoping he can a find (or write) another text worthy of his talents.
The charm of the illustrations cannot redeem their poor interaction with the text. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-643-9
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A bright and friendly but no more than serviceable board book.
Little readers play peekaboo with animals.
Carle’s iconic illustrations form the centerpiece of this simple lift-the-flap board book. Each double-page spread features an animal obscured by a flap (a solid block of trademark, textured Carle color) on one side and a four-line abcb stanza describing the animal on the opposite page. Readers are given hints about the hidden creature before they play peekaboo and lift the flap to reveal a monkey, horse, turtle, and more. “I’m a big cat, / but I don’t purr. / I’ve got black stripes / and bright orange fur.” Although most of the facts offered are scientifically valid, the ambiguously worded modifier for the monkey’s clue—“With my long tail, / I swing in the trees”—risks imparting the misinformation that monkeys suspend themselves from their tails. Carle’s illustrations are as recognizable to little readers as the characters on Sesame Street or Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and the familiarity breeds appreciation. There’s nothing truly special or distinctive regarding the mechanics of this particular title, but the familiar look acts as a comfort food–esque motivation to get little ones’ attention.
A bright and friendly but no more than serviceable board book. (Board book. 1-2)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0105-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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