Whimsical, big-eyed animals move to an Elvis beat with the lift or swing of a flap.
Unfortunately, serving as a professor of fine arts at the Beaux-Arts school in Châteauroux, France, for 10 years does not seem to have granted Crozon an understanding of age-appropriate design. The ideas are clever, but the execution is less so. The flaps in this and companion title Who’s There? are not sturdy, and many require two hands to manipulate. The arrows that provide directions to the flaps are of no use to young children and needlessly clutter the pages. Yes, pulling on a hippo's tongue and tugging on a donkey's legs to make him kick “back then front! Front then back!” are silly fun but probably beyond the manipulative skills of toddlers. The inevitable tears to the flaps will lead to inevitable tears. Most annoying of all are the stilted phrasing, vocabulary suited for adult readers rather than preschoolers, and the negative cautionary statements on several pages. Young children probably won't understand a warning to “take care not to become tongue-tied.” The best part of both books are the bright graphics rendered in yellow, orange, and turquoise.
Don't bother to lift these flaps. (Novelty board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4013-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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A cheerful brown bunny hiding behind the edges of an Easter basket looks just as surprised as young children will be to find the chicks revealed as each egg “hatches.”
With help from a reading partner, young children are encouraged to count down the eggs as they disappear with each page turn. Alternatively, they can count up as the chicks are revealed. A simple phrase at the top of each right-hand page states the number of eggs in the basket. The line at the bottom (half of a rhyming couplet) tells how many chicks readers should look for. The numbers are spelled out, requiring young children to recognize the word instead of the more familiar numeral. On the left-hand page, the spaces previously occupied by an egg begin to fill with meadow plants and critters, eventually becoming a scene as busy and cheerful as a greeting card. This book begs to be touched. Each egg is made of shaped plastic that protrudes through die-cut holes on the verso; they can be pressed but seem to be securely anchored. The pastel chicks are lightly flocked, providing an additional tactile experience. Although the pages are thicker than paper, young fingers may find the holes a convenient way to grip (and possibly tear) the pages.
There is always room in the Easter basket for a counting book, and many readers may appreciate having another simple, nonreligious holiday book. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-74730-1
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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