A fun springboard for discussion regarding who is indeed an animal.
Human or animal? We are both!
This bilingual Spanish-English board book delves into the commonalities we share with our co-inhabitants on this great planet. The simple declarative sentence “I am an animal” (“Soy un animal”) is followed by several examples: “when I speak” (“cuando hablo”), “when I sing” (“cuando canto”), “when I laugh” (“cuando río”). A bold, earth-toned illustration of, for instance, a parrot talking, a bullfrog croaking, and a chimp giggling accompanies each whimsical observation. Soderguit pushes the envelope at times to broaden readers’ understanding of whether animals truly experience the same emotions and engage in the same actions we do. “When I forget” (“cuando olvido”) is paired with an image of a fish—can a fish be forgetful? Do mules ignore what they don’t want to do? Do birds dream while soaring over mountain ranges? Do we? The book concludes, “When I feel,” along with an image of a brown-skinned child. Though the Spanish word for feel is sentir, the author instead uses quiero, which means want or love. This slight lapse aside, readers will enjoy exploring the similarities between themselves and the wildlife within these pages. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A fun springboard for discussion regarding who is indeed an animal. (Board book. 1-5)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 9781735311586
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Tra Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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