A good book to help little ones who feel a bit chicken about using the potty.
Can Peep convince Egg to overcome fears and use the potty?
Starting on the first page of the story, Peep, the larger of the two eponymous, anthropomorphic yellow chicks, encourages a reluctant Egg to use the potty. No amount of cajoling works, however, and Egg voices fears and repeats the titular refrain on alternating spreads until the middle of the book, when the chicks head outside. Here, Wan’s digital art shifts to embrace full-bleed double-page spreads that depict Peep and Egg outside with cows drinking lemonade, ducks frolicking by a stream, and sheep using a hose to wash a tractor. (Prior pages featured blank, white backgrounds to highlight only the characters, the potty, and toilet-paper roll.) Clever Peep is clearly hoping that these surroundings will prompt Egg to use the potty after all, but they do not. Finally Peep resorts to going inside to make toilet-paper tutus and dance about. This does the trick, and a desperate Egg finally uses the potty. In a comical twist, Peep ends up ruing Egg’s newfound confidence in using the potty when the little chick settles in on the throne with a good book and Peep must wait for a turn. Wan’s bean-shaped chicks are as appealing as ever, thick, smooth outlines and uncomplicated digital colors giving the book a friendly look.
A good book to help little ones who feel a bit chicken about using the potty. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-30328-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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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The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer...
Seven years after Little Pookie (2011) first appeared, this popular piglet is finally celebrating Christmas.
“Oh Pookie! Come look! It’s beginning to snow,” says a maternal-looking pig. But where did Pookie go? Past the Christmas tree, to put on a snowsuit of course. Pookie’s ever cheerful mama is willing to go out too. After all, “It’s a magical time to be walking with you.” When she observes, “Our noses are frozen. It’s time to go in,” Pookie protests in typical toddler style: “But I’m not c-c-c-cold!” The next three pages highlight indoor holiday preparations—making paper garlands, baking and decorating cookies. The rhyming text mirrors the spare illustrations. A spidery type that emulates handwriting makes it clear when Pookie is speaking. Then “the doorbell is ringing. / Our family and friends have arrived for the singing.” The second-to-last spread shows Pookie, mama, and six other pigs—and Boynton’s requisite chicken—singing (“Con brio”), “MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! AND A HAP-PY NEW YEAR!” Conveniently, this text is placed beneath the musical notation. Finally Pookie hangs a stocking and goes off to bed without any fuss, anticipating presents on Christmas morning.
The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer or an ideal Christmas Eve read to share with other little piggies. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3724-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
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