Brilliant as usual—but best suited for the shelves of personal libraries rather than public ones.
From the Press Here! (2011) panjandrum, a high-energy invitation to break out pens, pencils, and crayons for an instructive rumpus.
A brisk, directed tutorial in following instructions while having a barrel of fun, this workbook opens with a visual flex in the form of a flap of die-cut holes placed interestingly over a diverse set of patterns, then presents a hefty block of 140 drawing pages. These range from totally blank at the outset to busy spreads teeming with dots, circles, or other shapes in primary colors, and each comes with a prompt: to add dots or loops of specified size or in specified places; carefully color inside, or outside, the lines; connect dots of a certain color or particular relationship; turn dots into fruit, cars, fish, faces, and more; or mark everything up in some other way. Along the way motor skills get a workout too, as the interactions tend to progress from simple to less so: “Make these dots the same. / Now make them as different as can be!” Who knew there was so much one could do with red, yellow, and blue dots? Once they start, primary grade Picassos are going to find it hard to stop before the end, and as the pages aren’t erasable, do-overs aren’t in the picture.
Brilliant as usual—but best suited for the shelves of personal libraries rather than public ones. (Novelty. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7860-8
Page Count: 140
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Lots of detail and complex vocabulary mean most young children won’t linger past check-in at this hotel; older children will...
Bearing the tagline “A lift-the-flap book of discovery,” this board book for older children is meant to inspire garden explorations.
Its inviting house-shaped design with multiple peep-hole windows hints at what children will find inside. The first page explains that “A bug hotel is a multistory homemade habitat where creepy crawlies of all shapes and sizes can find a place to stay!” The benefits of providing accommodations for six different garden critters are then detailed, one per double-page spread. Information about each creature’s ideal environment and how humans can foster that habitat is behind the largest flap on each spread, which also includes a cutout through which the insect can be seen. “Snails come out mainly at night, so a dark and protected habitat helps to keep them cool, happy and safe from predators….” Smaller flaps discuss characteristics of each critter—pollination for bees, metamorphosis for butterflies, etc. The final spread reviews the various materials needed to attract different bugs to the garden. However, there are no instructions included or even websites to consult to assist readers in actually constructing a bug hotel. Birdhouse, published simultaneously using the same format, is somewhat more successful, possibly because birdhouses are more common.
Lots of detail and complex vocabulary mean most young children won’t linger past check-in at this hotel; older children will still need help from a caregiver or teacher . (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: June 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-61067-766-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
It is hard to be “Proud to be Latino” when so many mistakes abound.
A board-book introduction to the different foods of Latin America.
Attractive and colorful illustrations present foods from different Latin American countries alongside text that mentions differences and commonalities. Double-page spreads present the information in English on the left-hand side and Spanish on the right. Unfortunately, there is a mistake in the Spanish on almost every page. An article that does not match its noun: “un gran comida.” Nouns that do not match their adjectives: “papas fritos,” “algunas salsa.” Plain old proofreading mistakes: “hoja de lurel” (for “hoja de laurel”), “pasterlería” (for “pastelería”), “coco caliente” (presumably for “cocoa caliente,” which is more commonly known as “chocolate caliente” but in any event has nothing to do with coconuts). (The power of proofreading should never be underestimated.) Some might make readers laugh if they weren’t so awful: “la región de Andrés” for “la región andina.” And the final blow comes with the use of the word “Latino.” This term is a uniquely United States construct to refer to people from Latin America living in the United States. Cacao may have been used as currency on Latin American trade routes, but it was not used on “Latino trade routes.” Moreover, people are described by their demonyms, so Pablo Neruda is not a “Latino poet,” he is a Chilean poet.
It is hard to be “Proud to be Latino” when so many mistakes abound. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64170-154-9
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Familius
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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