A fine choice for lift-the-flap fans, but touch-and-feel enthusiasts should try other offerings.
A lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel peekaboo experience for little ones.
On the left side of each spread, the text poses a variety of questions about Bunny’s whereabouts. One image (a bird, a mushroom, or a dragonfly) from the much busier right-hand side appears front and center. On the right, readers are encouraged to lift a relatively sturdy, shaped flap embedded in the landscape to see if Bunny is hiding underneath. Behind the first four flaps, youngsters encounter a lamb, a hedgehog, a deer and a badger in their habitats, and each creature features a small textural element. On the last page and below the final flap, Bunny nibbles on cabbages behind a garden gate. Berg’s clear, stylized cartoons in rich colors are both simple and detailed, making them easy for little ones who are learning to name their world. Unfortunately, the tactile components are really too small to be satisfying, and the textures do not always connect with their host (a smooth hedgehog and a ribbed carrot?). The sister title, Have You Seen Duck?, follows the same text and layout patterns, but this time, it’s Duck who’s on the loose. The textural elements here are better matched, but they still run on the small side. In both titles, the black text against a dark blue background on a couple pages is difficult to read.
Pub Date: June 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-40831-499-9
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Trafalgar Square
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.
An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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