A simple, lovely lullaby.
A mellow bedtime book about baby animals preparing to sleep.
In this charming, sweetly illustrated book, toddlers can “join the goodnight safari” and help the animals get ready for bed. Tap a baby zebra, and he stops frolicking in the tall grass so he can join his mother. The young giraffe needs help reaching the leaves in a tree so she can finish her dinner. Readers can also dunk the speckled rhino to wash off his muddy back and help the brown monkey swing into her “bed” in an adjacent tree. The rich, lush illustrations burst with color, and the fuzzy, socklike texture of many animals adds to their appeal. Each page offers just enough interaction to hold the interest of rambunctious little ones but not so much that they become overstimulated. There’s even an optional background sound-effect loop that functions much like soothing white noise—a plus when the aim is to bring the energy level down a few notches. Once tasks are completed, an arrow appears to navigate to the next page. Touch elements and page turns can be a bit sluggish (it takes repeated taps to submerge the rhino in water, for example), but overall it’s not terribly disappointing—after all, the point is to slow down and chill out.
A simple, lovely lullaby. (iPad storybook app. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Polk Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
Cute and sprightly but not a standout.
Deck the stalls?
A bevy of barnyard animals, a cat, and some dogs get fully into the Christmas spirit by sprucing up the farm with colorful decorations, including holly berries and sparkling baubles. They have a great time and sing while going about their merry chores in a manner somewhat in keeping with the rhythm of the classic tune “Deck the Halls.” (In fact, a flock of sheep are shown holding song sheets for it.) As might be expected with these particular celebrants, some of the familiar lyrics are altered just a bit; for instance, “boughs of holly” is “translated” as “cows and holly.” Adult readers expecting the rhythm here to work exactly as it does in the original will be disappointed, because it doesn’t—it’s clunky. This is merely a brief, lightweight spoof of the familiar ditty, so it’s recommended that grown-ups read rather than sing this—except for that final line!—to very young targeted audiences, who may be unfamiliar with the actual song anyway. Some fun is still to be had in the illustrations, however. The spirited, wittily expressive animal characters are depicted having a fine time romping about and producing a variety of onomatopoeic sounds throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cute and sprightly but not a standout. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66591-435-2
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
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Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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