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SO MANY SOUNDS

Name: SO MANY SOUNDS
Author: Tim McCanna
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3156-3

by Tim McCanna ; illustrated by Andy J. Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2018

Make some noise at storytime with this book.

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A look at sounds throughout the day.

The book opens with the child who is depicted on the cover, a child of color with brown skin and black hair, asleep in bed while a white-appearing man knocks on the bedroom door and a yellow bird sings outside. Accompanying, rhyming text reads, “LISTEN! DO YOU HEAR A SOUND? / NOISES COME FROM ALL AROUND.” Subsequent pages show the child getting up and starting the day while sounds of the man, who seems to be his father, cooking breakfast, washing dishes, etc. surround him. Then the child walks to school with a woman of color who appears to be mom, and they encounter new noises outside. The school day, which includes a field trip to a concert, is filled with sounds too, and the students are a diverse group with differing skin and hair colors. Throughout, Miller’s cartoon art concentrates on making sound visible. The vibrant, multicolored palette alone looks loud, and musical notes on the page, along with colors and lines emanating from instruments, pounding hammers, and so on, graphically represent various sounds described by the text. Pages are visually noisy, compositions crowded and exuberant. The child returns home at book’s end to settle down as the closing text reads, “NO MORE NOISES. NOT A PEEP. EVERYONE IS SOUND ASLEEP” (here, perhaps, readers will wish the otherwise appropriately all-caps text were not shouting quite so loud).

Make some noise at storytime with this book. (Picture book. 1-4)

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3156-3

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Abrams Appleseed

Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
COLD
by Tim McCanna ; illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki

- BOOK REVIEW
HOW FAR YOU'LL GO
by Tim McCanna ; illustrated by Grace Lee

- BOOK REVIEW
PEACH AND PLUM
by Tim McCanna ; illustrated by Tim McCanna

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S SPRINGTIME

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2018

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.

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Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.

This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)

Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0

Page Count: 16

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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THE ABCS OF LOVE

by Rose Rossner ; illustrated by AndoTwin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2020

Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.

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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)