A gorgeous alphabet for young adventurers.
An elegant African bestiary, from the familiar to the exotic.
This eye-catching compendium of African fauna should delight young readers and instill an awareness of the Earth’s diversity of habitat and species. Animals featured range from such standard favorites as the Aardvark, Elephant, Hippo, Lion, and Zebra to the more exotic, unfamiliar, or strange. Dd (each letter is represented in both upper- and lowercase) is for Dik-Dik, for example, Nn for Nandine, Oo for Okapi, and Pp for Pangolin. Because caregivers may encounter creatures of which they have never heard mention, a trip to the dictionary or a little Googling might help with pronunciation and information on the book’s more esoteric entries, as there is no glossary or other backmatter. As there are multiple notable animals for certain letters of the alphabet, author Walters sometimes gets creative. Since Gg is for Giraffe, readers learn later that Uu is for Upland Gorilla. Xavier’s Greenbul and the Yellow-Spotted Rock Hyrax are Xx and Yy respectively. Of course, the real star of this show is the gorgeous, brightly colored artwork that brings these creatures to life. Expressive faces and motion lines convey presence and power; rich colors and striking landscapes evoke the vigor of the continent. The bold lines of illustrator Todd’s linoleum etchings have the classic power of woodblock prints. Images are clear and easily grasped; each is a striking work of art in itself. Even the alphabetic characters have the etched, stylized calligraphic look of block printing.
A gorgeous alphabet for young adventurers. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1070-9
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
A cheery board book to reinforce the oneness of babykind.
Ten babies in 10 countries greet friends in almost 10 languages.
Countries of origin are subtly identified. For example, on the first spread, NYC is emblazoned on a blond, white baby’s hat as well as a brown baby’s scoot-car taxi. On the next spread, “Mexico City” is written on a light brown toddler’s bike. A flag in each illustration provides another hint. However, the languages are not named, so on first reading, the fine but important differences between Spanish and Portuguese are easily missed. This is also a problem on pages showing transliterated Arabic from Cairo and Afrikaans from Cape Town. Similarly, Chinese and Japanese are transliterated, without use of traditional hànzì or kanji characters. British English is treated as a separate language, though it is, after all, still English. French (spoken by 67 million people) is included, but German, Russian, and Hindi (spoken by 101 million, 145 million, and 370 million respectively) are not. English translations are included in a slightly smaller font. This world survey comes full circle, ending in San Francisco with a beige baby sleeping in an equally beige parent’s arms. The message of diversity is reinforced by images of three babies—one light brown, one medium brown, one white—in windows on the final spread.
A cheery board book to reinforce the oneness of babykind. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-938093-87-6
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Duo Press
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Don’t judge this book by its cover; there’s an unusual concept and whimsical illustrations hiding underneath
A series of solid shapes substitute for natural objects in this board book that is somewhere between concept book and riddle game.
What’s that shape supposed to be? Running across a rust-brown labeled triangle, amid trees and elk, the text “Climb a TRIANGLE to the top” suggests the shape is a mountain; in an ocean scene with a red “STAR washed in on the waves,” the shape implies a sea star. Ample visual cues give young readers enough context to guess what the shape evokes, with some unexpected touches, such as “HEXAGON” printed on hexagonal honeycombs buzzing with bees and surrounded by golden flowers. Short, commanding sentences keep things humming, but with only six shapes covered, the book feels all too brief. Illustrator Devernay combines delicate pencil line drawings and sketchy gray-black shading with tiny, meticulously cut colored-paper collage to create her plants and animals. The most intimate drawings amaze. Close-ups of smooth stones are so appealing that readers will long to pick one up and “rub a smooth OVAL between thumb and finger.” Sadly, the cover doesn’t do the interior justice, and things get murky when several hues mix there and on the final spread. But on other spreads, where there’s a single color, it pops against the gray, such as the minute yellow beaks on the flock of charcoal birds circling the yellow “CIRCLE” sun.
Don’t judge this book by its cover; there’s an unusual concept and whimsical illustrations hiding underneath . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-56846-317-9
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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