Other, better nursery-rhyme board books abound.
A digitally illustrated board book presents familiar nursery rhymes to babies and their caregivers.
Like its companion, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, this title features a die cut in its cover. This book’s reveals a gold-metallic clock face, and its companion’s, a silvery star. Such design features are the only notable embellishments in either title, otherwise presenting fairly straightforward reiterations of well-known rhymes. The rhymes included range from the title ditty and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” to truncated versions of “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star features bedtime-themed rhymes. The art in both books is flat, cartoonish, and colorful, and it features anthropomorphic creatures—the itsy bitsy spider wears raingear, Jack and Jill are a bunny and a dog, Mary, Mary quite contrary is a little fox in a dress, and so on. Most pictures position the characters peering out directly at readers, but even this technique doesn’t ensure engagement, since background details and setting could be overwhelming or distracting for the youngest, who typically best attend to high-contrast illustrations with minimal or reduced backgrounds.
Other, better nursery-rhyme board books abound. (Board books. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: March 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58925-200-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.
An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do.
Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from “Cement Mixer”: “No time to wait; / he can’t sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden.” Slonim’s trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures—Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in “Bulldozer”: “He’s not a bully, either, / although he’s big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough.” A few trucks’ jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: “Skid-Steer Loader” focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but “Semi” runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing.
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5078-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
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