The app is still better (not to mention cheaper), but with Carter, even spinoffs are first-rate.
This abridged paper version of an outstanding iPad app sticks to the same basic design but offers a different set of visual challenges.
An instruction on the left side of each spread invites children to spot a differently colored dot—either hidden beneath flaps or concealed within groups of dots or other shapes that change with the pull of a tab or turn of a wheel—on the right. “Spot the blue dot,” the text instructs, opposite an orange page on which dots or fractions of dots are spilled. The blue dot is only three-quarters full; spinning the wheel allows readers to “complete” the dot as well as change the colors of other dots or dot-wedges on the page. The paper engineering is not only different on each spread, but the patterns of color and shape become ever more complex to make spotting each successive dot trickier: The game of hide-and-seek is capped by a final explosion of hundreds of dots for “black” and “white.” Though this lacks the original’s audio narration and fanfares (and also features only eight colors rather than 10), as the movable art is new rather than just reproductions in paper of the digital animations, it has rewards of its own for diapered digerati.
The app is still better (not to mention cheaper), but with Carter, even spinoffs are first-rate. (Pop-up/picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50009-8
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Ruckus/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Who knew that turning the pages could be the best part of a book?
The concept of this picture book is simple enough: 10 birds topple, slip, and dive their way off the titular twig until there is one left. The text itself echoes familiar singsong-y children’s rhymes like “Five Little Pumpkins.” While it mostly succeeds, there are some awkward spots: “5 on a twig, there used to be more… / SNAP! Don’t say a word, now there are four.” (On each page the number is both spelled out and represented as a numeral). The real scene stealer, however, is the book’s interplay between Cole’s illustrations and the physical pages themselves. In much the same way Eric Carle utilizes the pages in The Very Hungry Caterpillar to show the little critter eating its way through the week, Cole uses pages of increasing width to show how the twig grows shorter as each bird falls and marches off purposefully with the others, all headed toward verso with pieces of twig in their beaks. Stylistically, the book is captivating. The very colorful, egg-shaped birds appear on a single, thin black line on a stark white background. This backdrop stands in powerful contrast to the book’s final two pages, which are set against black negative space, a theme echoed in the book’s feather-print endpapers. The heavy, thick pages make it easy for little hands to participate. The text takes a back seat to the playful and compelling design, which is sure to delight readers.
Who knew that turning the pages could be the best part of a book? (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72821-593-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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