A sweet childhood experience captured in an age-appropriate way.
An ode to a child’s love for their teddy bear.
When the day starts out dreary, a caregiver and child go on a hunt throughout the house to find the little one’s smile. In rhyming stanzas, the pair looks under the sofa, in the cookie jar, and while blowing bubbles, but it’s not until they uncover the teddy bear that the child’s smile returns. Adamson’s text has a gentle bounce, like a familiar lullaby, the text addressing the child directly as “you.” Zimanski’s illustrations bring the story to life. There are lovely details that add nuance, like the opening page’s rainy window, which contrasts with the final illustration of an inviting playground and brilliant sunshine, a visual echo of the child’s despondence at the book’s start and joy at the end. Adults will relate to the feeling of eagerly trying to cheer up their little ones, while children will no doubt connect with the love of a most precious stuffed animal or toy. Both the adult and child are White, and no gendered pronouns appear in the text save for the teddy bear, denoted as he. This story has a simple, contained arc making it the right fit for its intended audience.
A sweet childhood experience captured in an age-appropriate way. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-936669-87-5
Page Count: 14
Publisher: blue manatee press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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