With its unique, oversized format (15 7/8 x 19 3/8), My Big Dictionary is touted as the first large-format dictionary available for the preschool and kindergarten set. While the concept sounds appealing and the aims are high (a list of ten activities for parents and teachers to do with children appears on the inside front cover), one wonders whether there is more hype than substance here. For one thing, the oversized format is actually unwieldy and hard to handle; young children will need help with it—which may be frustrating to a child who wants to ``do it myself!'' Also, the entries are rather arbitrary. The letter A has six words, while the letter B has 18. Under B there are listings for ``ballerina,'' which shows a girl dancing, and ``ballet dancer,'' which shows a boy. Need two entries so close in meaning have been included? To deal with the gender issue, it might have been better to have had the words ``ballet dancers'' and shown both boys and girls in ballet positions. There are also large drawings filled with a variety of things beginning with the letter they are meant to illustrate. Thus, the page for the letter C shows an elaborate, detailed drawing of a circus, depicting a cheetah, cows, camels, cars, clowns, Christmas trees, carriages and crows (to name just a few). While these drawings are delightful and inventive in and of themselves, one wonders about their value here. A very young child is apt to be confused by the intense, busy images and lose sight of the lesson, which is that all the words begin with a certain letter. Older children, for whom this seems more appropriate, may already have moved on to a different format, such as the American Heritage Picture Dictionary, a newly revised edition of a 1986 volume that has 900 entries and 650 illustrations. All in all, My Big Dictionary is a useful volume—but only with adult supervision. (Reference. 2-5)
Pub Date: July 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-395-66377-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tender bedtime tale set in a too-seldom-seen northern world.
A quiet book for putting young children to bed in a state of snowy wonder.
The magic of the north comes alive in a picture book featuring Inuit characters. In the sky at nighttime, snow falls fast. / … / In the sky at nighttime, a raven roosts atop a tall building. / … / In the sky at nighttime, a mother’s delicate song to her child arises like a gentle breeze.” With the repetition of the simple, titular refrain, the author envisions what happens in a small town at night: Young children see their breath in the cold; a hunter returns on his snowmobile; the stars dazzle in the night sky. A young mother rocks her baby to sleep with a song and puts the tot down with a trio of stuffed animals: hare, polar bear, seal. The picture book evokes a feeling of peace as the street lamps, northern lights, and moon illuminate the snow. The illustrations are noteworthy for the way they meld the old world with what it looks like to be a modern Indigenous person: A sled dog and fur-lined parkas combine easily with the frame houses, a pickup truck, power lines, and mobile-hung crib. By introducing Indigenous characters in an unremarkably familiar setting, the book reaches children who don’t always see themselves in an everyday context.
A tender bedtime tale set in a too-seldom-seen northern world. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77227-238-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Inhabit Media
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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