Full of fun, love, and laughter; a gem! (Board book. 6 mos.-5)
A delightful blend of playful rhymes, silly scenarios, and whimsical artwork.
This funny, lovely board book should become a favorite of kids and caregivers alike; it strikes just the right note of charm and absurdity and never talks down to its audience. Each page offers a rhymed couplet presenting adorable animals in cute and usually preposterous situations: “Nothing is cuter than a penguin on a scooter. / Nothing is sweeter than a tiny chirping tweeter. // Nothing is as lucky as a gold egg-laying ducky. / Nothing is as nice as thank-you notes from mice”; and so on. The smooth meter and flow of the verse shouldn’t surprise; in another life, author Babypants fronted the frequently silly alternative rock band the Presidents of the United States of America. He now makes children’s music; the titular song will be available as a free download from his website. Illustrator Endle’s bright, bold blend of drawing and collage brings each ridiculous couplet perfectly to life in a parade that includes a “disco-dancing filly,” “elegant” chimpanzees, a “dapper, dressy pheasant,” and more. The book is rich in vocabulary, loaded with visual appeal, and peopled with animals brimming over with zest and personality. One near rhyme and a couple of lines with almost-too-many syllables pleasingly challenge children’s sense of the poetic.
Full of fun, love, and laughter; a gem! (Board book. 6 mos.-5)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63217-130-6
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
The greeting-card art and jokey rhymes work for the baby-shower market but not for the youngest readers.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring through rhymed puns and sentimental art.
The title sets the scene for what’s to come: The owl asks the owlet as they fly together, “WHOO loves you?”; the kangaroo and joey make each other “very HOPPY”; and the lioness and cub are a “PURRRFECT pair.” Most of the puns are both unimaginative and groanworthy, and they are likely to go over the heads of toddlers, who are not know for their wordplay abilities. The text is set in abcb quatrains split over two double-page spreads. On each spread, one couplet appears on the verso within a lightly decorated border on pastel pages. On the recto, a full-bleed portrait of the animal and baby appears in softly colored and cozy images. Hearts are prominent on every page, floating between the parent and baby as if it is necessary to show the love between each pair. Although these critters are depicted in mistily conceived natural habitats and are unclothed, they are human stand-ins through and through.
The greeting-card art and jokey rhymes work for the baby-shower market but not for the youngest readers. (Board book. 6 mos-2)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-1374-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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