The lovely art and pleasant text is ill-served by the book design.
A primer of collective animal nouns.
In rhymed couplets (one line per double-page spread), Riggs introduces the very young to a “flock of geese,” a “colony of ants,” “troops of monkeys,” and more. The title ends with a review of all the creatures presented with a regrettably forced rhyme: “A pod of dolphins catches a wave. // Families go by many names!” Dogi’s naturalistic art, which has the polished look of airbrush renderings, is attractive and helpful to young ones learning to name the creatures of the animal kingdom. The images are presented against a bright white background, which, though fine in most cases, is a poor choice for some of spreads, particularly for the “cloud of bats” as it may lead readers to believe that these critters tend to roost in brightly lit areas. Some of the double spreads present one integrated scene, while others use two distinct images to illustrate the animals in question, bifurcating the tableau.
The lovely art and pleasant text is ill-served by the book design. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-56846-301-8
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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