Expressive, colorful illustrations do not elevate this disjointed story to the status of the perfect bedtime lovey.
Big Bear just can’t fall asleep.
When the tired, grouchy bear finds out about Hedgehog’s “lovey” (a small, stuffed toy with big ears), he wonders “what kind of lovey would be right for a big bear like me?” He asks many other animals about their loveys and finds out that Wolf’s is “flat and squishy like a pillow,” Sheep’s is “woolly and white,” Snake’s is a mouse (!), and Little Hare doesn’t have one yet. Illustrations are bright, colorful, and childlike, with expressive animal faces. While the concept of a soft toy to snuggle with is nearly universal, the execution in this uncredited translation from the French is incongruent and has inconsistencies. Why is Sheep the only domesticated animal included with all the other forest animals? Every animal’s lovey appears on the bottom right of the composition except for Snake’s, begging the question whether Snake’s lovey is a real mouse. The story does not clearly lead readers to understand why Big Bear decides that he wants a lovey that is “small, cuddly, soft, and white, with long ears” and chooses the living, sentient Little Hare, but it does show, as the friends cuddle together with smiles on their faces in the final double-page spread, that they are “just right.”
Expressive, colorful illustrations do not elevate this disjointed story to the status of the perfect bedtime lovey. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-988-8341-49-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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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