Pretty light fare to share with tots noticing differences among dads.
A rhyming celebration of the way dads are different from one another.
“There are some dads who worry. // And some dads who hurry. // And some dads who get lost on the way.” Bland’s illustrations feature expressive anthropomorphic animals and expand significantly on the clipped text (especially beneficial as the Australian creator’s rhymes can be iffy with an American accent: “sporty” with “naughty”). The worrier (an elephant) fills a pool with red-and-white–striped life rings while his daughter stands on the diving board. The hurrying polar bear bombs down a hill on skis, his little one atop his back. And the two Holsteins who are lost cling to a buoy, their map blowing away. The naughty dad (a sheep) plays with water balloons in the house, and the peacock’s brilliant plumage brightens his chick’s rainy day. Unfortunately reinforcing a sedentary lifestyle, the sporty frog dad, though wearing sweat bands and with a badminton racket and birdie near, is playing a video game with his child (a small frog, not a tadpole). And the ending is rather flat: “Some dads are loud. / And all dads are proud. // And you’ll never forget which is yours.” The simultaneously publishing Some Moms is similarly structured and ends, “All moms solve problems in their own special way. // A day spent with Mom is a wonderful day.”
Pretty light fare to share with tots noticing differences among dads. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7624-6199-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers.
The team of Costain and Lovšin (Daddies are Awesome, 2016) gives moms their due.
Rhyming verses tell of all the ways moms are amazing: “Mommies are magic. / They kiss away troubles… // …find gold in the sunlight / and rainbows in bubbles.” Moms are joyful—the best playmates. They are also fearless and will protect and soothe if you are scared. Clever moms know just what to do when you’re sad, sporty moms run and leap and climb, while tender moms cuddle. “My mommy’s so special. / I tell her each day… // … just how much I love her / in every way!” Whereas dads were illustrated with playful pups and grown-up dogs in the previous book, moms are shown as cats with their kittens in myriad colors, sizes, and breeds. Lovšin’s cats look as though they are smiling at each other in their fun, though several spreads are distractingly cut in half by the gutter. However delightful the presentation—the verse rolls fairly smoothly, and the cats are pretty cute—the overall effect is akin to a cream puff’s: very sweet and insubstantial.
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-651-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Captivating—and not a bit terrifying.
Catering to young scientists, naturalists, and Shark Week fans–to-be, this visually arresting volume presents a good deal of information in easily digested bites.
Like others in the Block Books series, this book feels both compact and massive. When closed, it is 5.5 inches across, 6.5 inches tall, and nearly 2 inches thick, weighty and solid, with stiff cardboard pages that boast creative die cuts and numerous fold-out three- and four-panel tableaux. While it’s possible it’s not the only book with a dorsal fin, it certainly must be among the best. The multiracial cast of aquarium visitors includes a Sikh man with his kids and a man of color who uses a wheelchair; there they discover the dramatic degree of variations among sharks. The book begins with a trip to a shark exhibit, complete with a megalodon jaw. The text points out that there are over 400 known types of sharks alive today, then introduces 18 examples, including huge whale sharks, tiny pocket sharks, and stealthy, well-camouflaged wobbegongs. Reef sharks prowl the warm waters of the surface, while sand tiger sharks explore shipwrecks on the ocean floor. Bioluminescent catsharks reside at the bottom of an inky black flap that folds down, signifying the deepest ocean depths, where no sunlight penetrates. Great whites get star treatment with four consecutive two-page spreads; their teeth and appetite impress but don’t horrify. The book does a wonderful job of highlighting the interconnectedness of species and the importance of environmental stewardship.
Captivating—and not a bit terrifying. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4119-7
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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