A fine board-book addition to an already full field of farmyard books.
Cheerful yet realistic-looking farm animals introduce toddlers to farm-animal sounds and environs.
Each double-page spread highlights one type of animal and its baby—calf and cows, chick and chickens, duckling and ducks, foal and horses, lamb and sheep, and piglet and pigs. The relevant verb (“moos,” “quacks,” “snorts”) is highlighted in colored type in each sentence, and then the onomatopoeic sound is reproduced as “dialogue.” The animals are idealized depictions of the real thing, not anthropomorphic cartoons. The really fat pigs loll in the mud, and the teats are clearly visible on the sow's belly. A side view of a Holstein cow shows her udders. The pose of the horse is awkward; the foal looks like it is on its mother's back. The pure white duck is just plain pretty—not at all like those found in most barnyards. Although the text mentions where each animal lives, there is no picture of a chicken coop or stable. But these are quibbles. With just enough information for the board-book audience, young toddlers will soon be mooing, quacking, and oinking along, practically ready to sing “Old McDonald.”
A fine board-book addition to an already full field of farmyard books. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-56846-272-1
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
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
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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