Appropriately for the audience, there’s no story line or dazzling special effects—just a creatively imagined encounter with...
This toddler app revolves around the children’s song of the same name, the first in a planned suite by the illustrator of the now-classic My Very First Mother Goose.
Once the app is launched, one of Wells' trademark sturdy bunnies appears wearing Western clothes, while an orchestral version of “Chicken Reel” loops in the background. Tap the animal, and the violins give way to a small group of children singing the nursery song, while the bunny points to his corresponding body parts. (Fair warning: You may never be able to get the tune out of your head.) Readers are given two other options: Tap the body parts for individual display and enunciation of the words, or record your own version for playback. A menu at the top of the screen shows four different snapshots, each of the same bunny dressed in other attire (which represents the other languages the song is available in—French, Spanish and Japanese). Select a different snapshot and the bunny turns and skips merrily to another screen where he finds a new location, a new set of threads and language/music that reflects that particular ethnicity. Auryn, Inc., hit grand slams with previous releases Teddy’s Day (2010) and The Little Mermaid (2011). This is a perfectly adorable app that makes good use of iPad technology, but it is a much more basic offering than its predecessors.
Appropriately for the audience, there’s no story line or dazzling special effects—just a creatively imagined encounter with a song that has universal toddler appeal. More, please! (iPad storybook app. 1-3)Pub Date: April 8, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Auryn
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
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This will have readers putting on their dancing shoes to do the “cha cha cha” with their dino-babies
It's not the first time dinosaurs have been featured in a clever Boynton board book. It seems she—and we—can't get enough.
As her fans know, Boynton has a sly wit that respects the intelligence of her young fans and amuses the adults asked to “read it again.” In this book she introduces nine dinosaurs, each of which dances in a way that seems totally appropriate for that particular species. “The blue Stegosaurus goes SHIMMY SHIMMY SHAKE. / The red Brontosaurus goes QUIVERY QUAKE.” Drawing on her experience as a children’s musician, she writes a text that trips along like a song with rhymes that make sense but don't intrude. The illustrations, typical Boynton, reflect her greeting-card background. They are cartoonish but manage to capture the unique personality of each creature. The unnamed dinosaur narrator looks genuinely distraught at not being able to name the “tiny little dino” that “goes DEEDLY DEE.” Spoiler alert: the tiny little dinosaur is probably Compsognathus and would be about the size of a small chicken. Young dinophiles would be impressed if the dinosaurologists in their lives could supply that factoid, but alas, they will have to look it up.
This will have readers putting on their dancing shoes to do the “cha cha cha” with their dino-babies . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8099-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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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
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