Twenty times per spread is too much brand trumpeting for, well, anyone; still, this will sell as a baby-shower gift for...
A bright, cheerful illustration of the reason why picture books shouldn’t be product-placement vehicles.
Although the back lists the illustrator credit in miniscule font, the front cover and spine credit only “PANTONE®” as creator of this concept piece. PANTONE® is a company that offers a trademarked system of standardized colors—a method of specifying and matching colors from afar. Here, each right-hand page features a cartoony object in a single hue, while the facing left-hand page has a 20-square grid of variations on that hue. Assets are the vibrant visual energy throughout and an emphasis on hue variations that can be detected in the facing illustration. But every variation broadcasts a name and identity number—and the brand, lest readers forget. Some names are cutesy (“Pink Lemonade Pink: PANTONE 210”), others meaningless as color identifiers (“Apron Blue: PANTONE 314”; “Mitten Purple: PANTONE 259”). Readers old enough to comprehend the PANTONE concept will have long outgrown this toddler-friendly art; worse, when they read the disclaimer that “PANTONE Colors may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color,” they’ll be disgusted that a color standardization company is betraying its own raison d’être.
Twenty times per spread is too much brand trumpeting for, well, anyone; still, this will sell as a baby-shower gift for expectant graphic designers. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0180-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
As with many holiday gifts, the sparkly packaging may interest toddlers more than what’s inside.
Readers can count down eight of Santa's reindeer as they jump up and out of the scene.
In each one of the mostly double-page spreads, one reindeer, from Dasher to Blitzen, plays a central role in a winter activity (sledding, ski jumping, ice skating—and soccer and yoga?) that launches the creature into the air. Glitter-speckled tabs, each with small portraits of a member of Santa's herd, appear at either the top or the right side of each page, which little fingers will enjoy flipping. In what looks to be pencil-and-watercolor cartoons, Rogers uses different facial expressions, as well as collars, bows or other accessories, to distinguish the reindeer from one another. Donner (not Donder) and Blitzen are squeezed together on the penultimate spread, likely to keep the page count down. The verse mostly scans, but the rhyme scheme has become the cliché of counting books: "Eight jolly reindeer / stretching up to heaven. / Up goes Dasher / and then there are... // Seven...." Santa, his iconic sleigh and the eight reindeer in flight make a dramatic and required appearance on the book's final double-page spread.
As with many holiday gifts, the sparkly packaging may interest toddlers more than what’s inside. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-65145-5
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
