These chicks are an adorable brood. Here’s hoping Flora and an array of beasties will be appearing in the flaps of more...
Flora, the animal-loving star of a wordless trio of picture books, makes her board-book debut by counting chicks as they hatch.
On every other double-page spread, one or two gatefold flaps unveil an extended scene as the little white girl and the chicks play together. The number of babies increases with each turn of a page or a relatively sturdy flap, revealing chicks of a variety of colors, from classic yellow to deep brown. This offering is wordless as well, but a numeral floats on the matte-white backgrounds as each one of the eggs hatches. Idle’s skill at capturing balletic body language, both of Flora and of the hatchlings, is in top form here. In smooth, rounded swaths of muted colors, the youngster and the chicks chase and cavort in wonderfully comic scenes; one chick emerges from an egg feet first, another can’t seem to dislodge a shell from its head, and a third dances with a coveted worm. The mama hen, who appeared at the beginning of the action and promptly exited to the left, returns on the penultimate and final spreads to round off the counting exercise to 10.
These chicks are an adorable brood. Here’s hoping Flora and an array of beasties will be appearing in the flaps of more board books soon. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4657-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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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Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
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