by Agnese Baruzzi ; illustrated by Agnese Baruzzi ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2017
This deceptively simple concept book is the opposite of confusing.
A guessing game about opposites in a cleverly designed board book that epitomizes the maxim “show, don’t tell.”
The rather abstract concept of opposites is successfully demonstrated in Baruzzi’s whimsical, graphically flat cartoon illustrations. Older children will quickly learn the formula. The left-hand page of each spread poses a binary choice with the first option illustrated on the facing page. But pull the gatefolded page to the right, and it expands to a full 13-inch illustration of the second one. So a small blue truck is shown to be pulling a large blue-and-yellow excavator, one sheep is revealed to be part of a flock, closed window shutters open to a sunny view, etc. Opening each flap provides an “aha” moment, if not exactly a surprise. Most of the choices are obvious, though one might wonder why fish in an aquarium stay only in the hidden section and how a shirt came to be dirtied on only one side. Similarly, the thin pencil has no logical relationship to the wide bridge; the edges of the bridge just fold conveniently to create a yellow colored pencil. But these are small matters. With the text limited to just one three-word question (“Short or long?”) per spread, young readers are allowed to use their own words to describe what pulling the flap reveals.
This deceptively simple concept book is the opposite of confusing. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-988-8341-37-5
Page Count: 20
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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by Agnese Baruzzi ; illustrated by Agnese Baruzzi ; translated by Maria Russo
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by National Geographic ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 11, 2014
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on...
An exploration of the human body through colorful photos.
Every other double-page spread labels the individual parts on one major area: head, torso, back, arm and leg. Ethnically diverse boy-girl pairs serve as models as arrows point to specific features and captions float nearby. While the book usefully mentions rarely depicted body parts, such as eyebrow, armpit and shin, some of the directional arrows are unclear. The arrow pointing at a girl’s shoulder hits her in the upper arm, and the belly button is hard is distinguish from the stomach (both are concealed by shirts). Facts about the human body (“Guess what? You have tiny hairs in your nose that keep out dirt”) appear on alternating spreads along with photos of kids in action. Baby Animals, another title in the Look & Learn series, uses an identical format to introduce readers to seal pups, leopard cubs, elephant calves, ducklings and tadpoles. In both titles, the final spread offers a review of the information and encourages readers to match baby animals to their parents or find body parts on a photo of kids jumping on a trampoline.
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on the right track despite earlier titles that were much too conceptual for the audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1483-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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by National Geographic Kids ; illustrated by National Geographic Kids
by Ruth A. Musgrave ; photographed by National Geographic Kids
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by Jane Cabrera ; illustrated by Jane Cabrera ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 17, 2017
It’s not exactly original, but the execution, with familiar, appealing Cabrera illustrations, is attractive and perfect for...
This simple board book invites little ones to greet baby farm animals (including frog, bunny, and bee) with their corresponding sounds.
The first double-page spread greets readers with a bright yellow smiling sun and the text “Hello, Sun. / Hello, Day. / Wake up, babies. / Time to play!” Each succeeding spread has a distinct, gently patterned background, with very brief text on the verso (“Hello Puppy! / Woof Woof”). Filling up the recto is a vibrant illustration of the baby animal’s face, wide eyed and smiling, outlined in black. The final spread presents the face of a cute baby with chalky brown-gray skin, bright black eyes, and short black hair: “Goo Goo.” Babies and toddlers will enjoy looking at the baby faces, animals and human, and repeating the sounds. A companion book, Goodnight Bear, has a similar pattern of text and illustrations, though the palette is suitably darker. The moon, surprisingly, has its eyes shut, and succeeding spreads depict an owlet, a baby bat, a baby hedgehog, and other familiar nocturnal baby animals, all wide-awake and smiling. The final spread depicts a cute baby with pale skin, blond hair, and closed eyes.
It’s not exactly original, but the execution, with familiar, appealing Cabrera illustrations, is attractive and perfect for the target audience. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0430-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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