The tangle of yarn on each page makes this delightful volume feel more dynamic than many typical concept books, with the...
A spirited black kitten plays with yarn to teach children colors in this work from author and illustrator Sper (What on Earth Can We Do?, 2016, etc.).
The radiant cover gives a preview of what this concept book contains: a black kitten, surrounded by 10 different colors of yarn, appears on a spare white background. When readers open the first two-page spread, the feline—almost entirely black, but with gray highlights to depict features such as ears and paws—tackles a red ball of yarn. The word “red” is the only text. On the second two-page spread, the red ball has left a yarn trail, and the kitten cuddles a yellow ball, his blue eyes small enough that they don’t distract from the “yellow” of the object. On each two-page spread, trails of the previous yarn cover part of the white background, joined by a new ball with its own strands; the only text is the new color word. By the time the animal reaches the sixth ball, the page begins to get crowded with colors, and the yarn starts to entangle the kitten as well as filling the page. But the intrepid feline never gets tied up, and the text color and the ball of yarn are always clear. On the final two-page spread, the background makes a dramatic shift; suddenly all the trails and the kitten, surrounded by a blue glow to reveal his position, are bright against a black background, as the animal bats a white ball of yarn. Beginning readers should have an easy time identifying color words because of the text’s isolation and the clear visual cues. Toddlers should be able to point to each color and its word, printed in the same hue it represents, to help learn the palette the book offers. Pet lovers and youngsters will likely be charmed by this wonderful work that remains simple to follow.
The tangle of yarn on each page makes this delightful volume feel more dynamic than many typical concept books, with the frisky feline an energetic guide.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9754902-8-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Jump Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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