Despite the brevity of the text, the humor embedded in the illustrations will engage even adults, who will doubtless be...
Find a baby and play together with this board book geared to the attention spans of very young children.
Simple uncluttered layouts provide focus. Both this title and the co-published I Get Dressed use animal characters and vocabulary introduced in McPhail's My Mother Goose (2013), making them rare successful board-book adaptations of previously published picture books. As the title suggests, I Get Dressed names items of clothing while this offering reinforces action verbs. McPhail's bear walks with purpose, jumps for joy, and finally is quietly engrossed in reading. With just one word per page, even the youngest children will soon follow suit. Although the animals in I Get Dressed are just as whimsical, it is somewhat less satisfying, perhaps because different animals are used on each page, and the vocabulary concepts are more difficult. Even the animals look bemused to find themselves wearing clothes. The praying mantis wearing gloves is a delightful surprise, however. No one would trust the sly snake wearing that salesman's tie or, for that matter, a fox wearing a dress. McPhail knows and respects children. He manages to draw anthropomorphic animals without making them nauseatingly cute.
Despite the brevity of the text, the humor embedded in the illustrations will engage even adults, who will doubtless be asked to “read it again.” (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62672-147-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.
An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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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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