Millennial parents, and their parents, the grandparents of Generation Alpha, eager to encourage active play and hands-on...
Colors, shapes, vehicles, and an invitation to play with blocks add up to a bonanza for imaginative toddlers.
Yonezu’s board book is reminiscent of Pat Hutchins' classic Changes Changes (1971) but with a modern, graphic style that calls to mind the art of Piet Mondrian. The concept is simple: things that go are built out of bright red, yellow, green, and blue squares, rectangles, and circles outlined in heavy black lines. Each section begins with the conversation starter: “What are you building? What can it be?” A turn of the die-cut page offers a hint about the sound of the vehicle and then the vehicle itself against a clean, white background. The first is a simple truck, with subsequent creations growing increasingly complex: a bus, a train, a ship, a plane, a rocket. Strong graphic design makes this effort aesthetically pleasing. Predicable repetition will help engage active toddlers. Best of all, similar, three-dimensional blocks are easy to find, making the final invitation—“What else can you build?”—one families can readily act on.
Millennial parents, and their parents, the grandparents of Generation Alpha, eager to encourage active play and hands-on experiences, will find this offering a pleasing board book to share with toddlers. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: June 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-988-8240-70-8
Page Count: 26
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
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
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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