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PITTSUN TSUN

Name: PITTSUN TSUN
Author: Yoshiaki Ushiro

THE SOUNDS OF A RAINY DAY

by Yoshiaki Ushiro ; Etsuko Bushika ; illustrated by Kaori Moro ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 31, 2013

Though less full-featured than an app, this minimalist interactive story nonetheless holds its own.

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A rainy day is rendered in rhythmic wordplay and animated crayon sketches in this interactive iBook.

Falling somewhere between a full-blown iPad app and a standard iBooks-format e-book, this story of children playing in rain and mud feels like a playful experiment. As an introductory page explains, this translation to English “includes onomatopoeia from the original Japanese book.” Younger readers unfamiliar with Japanese may have trouble with these words at first, but iBooks’ “Start Reading” option toggles narration that breezes through bits such as, “Becha-becha, bicha-bicha, guchan-guchan. Gobo-gobo, zaba-zaba, ba-shan ba-shan.” Much of it is repetitive enough to pick up quickly, and hearing it aloud helps immeasurably. Animations throughout are simple and a little rough, but the use of color to highlight characters on black-and-white pages and the ambient sound of rain falling are more than effective enough to convey a mood of joyful outdoor fun. The splashing, romping, raincoat-clad children are skillfully suggested with just a few lines and energetic scribbles; they are clearly having the time of their young lives. The mix of English and Japanese feels just right, and the compositions are simple enough to make the scenes clear. Raincoats and umbrellas can be great fun, and the tongue-twisting beats of the words in this enhanced book are, too.

Though less full-featured than an app, this minimalist interactive story nonetheless holds its own. (Requires iPad 2 and above.) (Enhanced e–picture book. 2-6)

Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2013

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Kumon Publishing North America

Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S CHRISTMAS

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2014

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...

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The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.

The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3

Page Count: 24

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | 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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HOW TO CATCH SANTA CLAUS

From the How To Catch… series

by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2023

Cookie-cutter predictability.

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After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?

Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)