By the end, readers may be as exhausted as Little Critter’s beleaguered dad, who does all the driving, natch, but they will...
Little Critter, Little Sister and their parents take a meandering trip to Lake Wakatookee in this busy app.
Each page opens with the narrator reading a few lines of text, and then interactions are unlocked. Touching color-coded hotspots triggers animations, loads Little Critter’s backpack, rereads text and brings up alphabet flashcards (“R. Raccoon. Raccoon begins with R”). Once all of the hotspots have been explored, readers can advance to the next screen and are occasionally prompted to choose the route. It’s a predictably circuitous and eventful trip, including an overheated engine, a stop at an ice cream stand and an inexplicable detour to the beach. Animations that open and close each page and tap-activated dialogue (“How do you spell pineapple?” queries Mom pedantically. “It’s a compound word: pine apple.” “Moo-oom!” protest the kids) supplement the bare-bones plot. Indeed, so much is going on, what with interactions and animations, it’s a good thing there’s so little to the actual story. Six additional games punctuate the journey; completing them all successfully unlocks a “fun surprise.” The app is not for readers who wish to blaze through, instead rewarding lingerers amply. (There is a static “Just Read” mode for those who wish to bypass the extra doodads.)
By the end, readers may be as exhausted as Little Critter’s beleaguered dad, who does all the driving, natch, but they will feel like they’ve done something . (iPad storybook app. 5-7)Pub Date: March 19, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Silver Dolphin Books
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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