Cute animals and felt tabs can’t redeem this confusing effort.
A cheerful teal-blue mouse greets an orange monkey, a red lion, a pink flamingo, a blue elephant, and a yellow giraffe.
The animals are not named. Instead, four-line rhymes describe an emotion sometimes associated with the predominate color on the page. So “orange is excitement”; red corresponds to bravery; “pink is oh-so-playful”; blue is (predictably) sadness; and “yellow is bright happiness.” The rhymes mostly scan, though the toddler audience may not understand the similes embedded in each verse to explain abstract concepts. Only five colors are featured rather than the typical crayon-box eight. In companion title Let’s Play, Funny Flamingo (published simultaneously) each of the nine animals included rates only two lines as the verses explore opposites. Felt tabs embedded in the pages of both books help little people turn the pages. However, the positioning of the tabs in Happy Giraffe places them after the corresponding color. So, for example, when a child grasps the orange tab and turns the page, the page revealed is all about red. The real purpose of both books is to extol the virtue of friendship, a message that’s almost lost amid the lessons about colors and feelings. Still, finding the mouse on each spread can become a game for young children.
Cute animals and felt tabs can’t redeem this confusing effort. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68010-610-7
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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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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
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