A good book to help little ones who feel a bit chicken about using the potty.
Can Peep convince Egg to overcome fears and use the potty?
Starting on the first page of the story, Peep, the larger of the two eponymous, anthropomorphic yellow chicks, encourages a reluctant Egg to use the potty. No amount of cajoling works, however, and Egg voices fears and repeats the titular refrain on alternating spreads until the middle of the book, when the chicks head outside. Here, Wan’s digital art shifts to embrace full-bleed double-page spreads that depict Peep and Egg outside with cows drinking lemonade, ducks frolicking by a stream, and sheep using a hose to wash a tractor. (Prior pages featured blank, white backgrounds to highlight only the characters, the potty, and toilet-paper roll.) Clever Peep is clearly hoping that these surroundings will prompt Egg to use the potty after all, but they do not. Finally Peep resorts to going inside to make toilet-paper tutus and dance about. This does the trick, and a desperate Egg finally uses the potty. In a comical twist, Peep ends up ruing Egg’s newfound confidence in using the potty when the little chick settles in on the throne with a good book and Peep must wait for a turn. Wan’s bean-shaped chicks are as appealing as ever, thick, smooth outlines and uncomplicated digital colors giving the book a friendly look.
A good book to help little ones who feel a bit chicken about using the potty. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-30328-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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
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The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer...
Seven years after Little Pookie (2011) first appeared, this popular piglet is finally celebrating Christmas.
“Oh Pookie! Come look! It’s beginning to snow,” says a maternal-looking pig. But where did Pookie go? Past the Christmas tree, to put on a snowsuit of course. Pookie’s ever cheerful mama is willing to go out too. After all, “It’s a magical time to be walking with you.” When she observes, “Our noses are frozen. It’s time to go in,” Pookie protests in typical toddler style: “But I’m not c-c-c-cold!” The next three pages highlight indoor holiday preparations—making paper garlands, baking and decorating cookies. The rhyming text mirrors the spare illustrations. A spidery type that emulates handwriting makes it clear when Pookie is speaking. Then “the doorbell is ringing. / Our family and friends have arrived for the singing.” The second-to-last spread shows Pookie, mama, and six other pigs—and Boynton’s requisite chicken—singing (“Con brio”), “MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! AND A HAP-PY NEW YEAR!” Conveniently, this text is placed beneath the musical notation. Finally Pookie hangs a stocking and goes off to bed without any fuss, anticipating presents on Christmas morning.
The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer or an ideal Christmas Eve read to share with other little piggies. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3724-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
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