Simplicity at its finest—don’t miss this innovative board book that’s as beautiful as it is educational.
Die-cut dots create evocative numerical representations in this clever graphic board book.
Rarely have ordinary circles communicated so much, so well. Following the title page, the book opens on a clean white page with 10 tiny die-cut holes representing “10 silver beads”; a lavish silver page underneath creates the illusion of 10 sparkly, scattered treasures. As the numbers progressively count down, the dots grow larger, becoming a cluster of “6 blue blueberries” against a bright green field or two sizable “orange oranges” on crimson. Its final spreads, depicting an oversized “1 yellow sun” and a white page devoid of any dots representing “0 white snowballs,” are simple triumphs. No detail is amiss. There’s judicious use of embossing, eye-catching silvery spheres on the endpapers, a shiny, goldenrod spot-gloss cover, and clean, richly colored backgrounds that make the dots burst outward, especially a group of “4 pink bubbles” that bounce against a lush plum background. Too often, counting books feel stale, but the novelty of the well-built die cuts, combined with the ease with which they demonstrate beginning numeracy, makes this one fresh, engaging, and informational. Concluding with a clear bar chart showing the successive quantity of each type of dot further solidifies its use as an early math text.
Simplicity at its finest—don’t miss this innovative board book that’s as beautiful as it is educational. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5248-5817-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on...
An exploration of the human body through colorful photos.
Every other double-page spread labels the individual parts on one major area: head, torso, back, arm and leg. Ethnically diverse boy-girl pairs serve as models as arrows point to specific features and captions float nearby. While the book usefully mentions rarely depicted body parts, such as eyebrow, armpit and shin, some of the directional arrows are unclear. The arrow pointing at a girl’s shoulder hits her in the upper arm, and the belly button is hard is distinguish from the stomach (both are concealed by shirts). Facts about the human body (“Guess what? You have tiny hairs in your nose that keep out dirt”) appear on alternating spreads along with photos of kids in action. Baby Animals, another title in the Look & Learn series, uses an identical format to introduce readers to seal pups, leopard cubs, elephant calves, ducklings and tadpoles. In both titles, the final spread offers a review of the information and encourages readers to match baby animals to their parents or find body parts on a photo of kids jumping on a trampoline.
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on the right track despite earlier titles that were much too conceptual for the audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1483-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
