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BABY FACES

Name: BABY FACES
Author: Mallory Loehr
ISBN: 978-0-375-87031-6

by Mallory Loehr & illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 22, 2012

This fails to bring life to the impressive real-life range of tots' mannerisms.

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There's not enough visual variation in these babies' faces to cause many smiles to break out.

This brief review of babies' facial features presents individual spreads that each focus on a different body part, with a corresponding movable tab. Dry phrases fail to energize the concept—“When the wind begins to blow, / Baby's hair goes to and fro”—and descriptions lack depth (“Baby's tongue is very pink”). Initially beguiling, the babies' expressions take on a certain sameness, resulting in a bland presentation. All eyes point upward, looking above and beyond the audience, forgoing any natural connection between viewers and the depicted child. The tabs' colors blend into the background, making some of them hard to find. There is also difficulty in manipulation of the flimsy design; some devices require significant jostling. The effectiveness of each example varies; the tongue barely moves while eyes clearly wink and blink. The offering proves not durable enough to withstand repeat viewings.

This fails to bring life to the impressive real-life range of tots' mannerisms. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)

Pub Date: May 22, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-375-87031-6

Page Count: 12

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
UNICORN WINGS
by Mallory Loehr & illustrated by Pamela Silin-Palmer

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 8, 2020

Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires.

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Little Blue Truck feels, well, blue when he delivers valentine after valentine but receives nary a one.

His bed overflowing with cards, Blue sets out to deliver a yellow card with purple polka dots and a shiny purple heart to Hen, one with a shiny fuchsia heart to Pig, a big, shiny, red heart-shaped card to Horse, and so on. With each delivery there is an exchange of Beeps from Blue and the appropriate animal sounds from his friends, Blue’s Beeps always set in blue and the animal’s vocalization in a color that matches the card it receives. But as Blue heads home, his deliveries complete, his headlight eyes are sad and his front bumper droops ever so slightly. Blue is therefore surprised (but readers may not be) when he pulls into his garage to be greeted by all his friends with a shiny blue valentine just for him. In this, Blue’s seventh outing, it’s not just the sturdy protagonist that seems to be wilting. Schertle’s verse, usually reliable, stumbles more than once; stanzas such as “But Valentine’s Day / didn’t seem much fun / when he didn’t get cards / from anyone” will cause hitches during read-alouds. The illustrations, done by Joseph in the style of original series collaborator Jill McElmurry, are pleasant enough, but his compositions often feel stiff and forced.

Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires. (Board book. 1-4)

Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-358-27244-1

Page Count: 20

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
GOOD NIGHT, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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LOVE FROM THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

by Eric Carle ; illustrated by Eric Carle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 15, 2015

Safe to creep on by.

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Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.

In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.

Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)