The whole is a pleasingly fresh take on concepts of up/down and above/below as well as a sometimes-challenging exercise in...
Two simply drawn worms (or maybe they are snakes), one pink and one green, play peekaboo in various locations: in the grass, on a boat, under the lily pad, in an urban setting, in a plane, through a meadow, and in the park.
Children will have fun spotting the cleverly disguised critters as they masquerade variously as a mast on a boat, a lily pad, and a grassy strand of weed in a pond. At one point, the pink one fills the full length of a plane but is visible through every window, making it look as though it has half-drawn pink shades. The pink one peeks out of grasses in the flower-dotted meadow and revolves around the wheel of a bike before the green one finally chases it up a light post. Williamson’s simple, hand-lettered text is well-complemented by her flat, colored gouache-and–cut-paper illustrations. They provide enough variety of composition to pose a reasonable challenge to toddlers and offer both adults and children plenty to talk about besides the worms: one large fish is bedecked with painterly stripes; a blackbird has one blue leg and one yellow leg, and it dangles a cherry from its beak; who is driving those trucks—and where are they?
The whole is a pleasingly fresh take on concepts of up/down and above/below as well as a sometimes-challenging exercise in observation. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5247-0063-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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BOOK REVIEW
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