Leave the song to Marianne Berkes, the seek-and-find to Joan Steiner and the team of Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo.
The traditional song gets an unsuccessful seek-and-find makeover.
As in the original, children count from one to 10, following the animals in a streamside meadow habitat as they teach their babies a few needed skills. With only one glaring exception, the rhythms and rhymes fit the original tune, but readers won’t sing it through, anyway. They will be too busy scanning the spreads for the familiar objects that make up both the animals and their surroundings—green plastic combs stand in for grass, pretzels form the beaver lodge’s sticks and leaves become the owls’ feathers. Unlike other books that use this method, however, the objects are digitally resized, taking away their size context and making them difficult to recognize, especially in comparison to one another. Further complicating matters is the fact that some of the objects have had parts cut off or their color changed. Overall, the artwork comes off as being overly digitized, a jarring contrast to the nature theme of the song. For pre-readers, a few rebus elements are included in each verse, but as they focus mainly on the featured animal, they seem extraneous. A visual listing of many of the everyday objects used in the scenes offer readers the chance to go back through the illustrations and find them.
Leave the song to Marianne Berkes, the seek-and-find to Joan Steiner and the team of Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-926973-06-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Formulaic fare that will nevertheless charm devoted followers.
A few familiar friends explore gratitude.
Daywalt’s crayons have observed many holidays, from Christmas to Earth Day. On Thanksgiving, these anthropomorphic school supplies wax (pun intended) poetic about their favorite things to draw. “Blue is thankful for blueberries.” (The accompanying illustration depicts the stubby crayon leaping into a pile of the fruit.) Black, on a page topped by dark scribbles, “is thankful for night skies.” In an aside, Black adds, “Big, beautiful night skies I get to color in all by myself!” (Blue is perfectly fine with this.) Pink pipes up with “Three glorious words. Amazon. River. Dolphins”—which may spur readers to research these creatures. The tale turns a bit meta, too. Teal is thankful for family—both Blue and Green. Red, surrounded by hearts, is thankful for Neon Green Highlighter, who was accidentally dropped into the crayon box—a “dreamboat” for sure. Recognizable jokes from previous works make appearances; these callbacks will delight staunch fans, though others will find them tiring. Standard cheer and platitudes abound; the crayons are ultimately most grateful for each other.
Formulaic fare that will nevertheless charm devoted followers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593690574
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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