A simple ode to all food has to offer.
Love is where the food is.
This tiny board book focuses on all that a meal can do. Food helps us grow strong, smells good, and brings a family together. The text consists of one long sentence, one phrase per double-page spread, until the end, where it concludes: “for giving much more than enough— / thank you for filling us with love.” Since the force that is being thanked is never named, the book has potential application in families of many faiths. Children and families of all ethnicities enjoy the delicious food. Walsh’s style has a bulbous look, and the illustrations are muddied by a color palette that leans on dark greens, oranges, reds, and browns, but the compositions are smartly arranged and put just as much emphasis on smiling faces as they do on the food. Another in the series, Tiny Blessings for a Merry Christmas, publishes concurrently and explores the Christmas holiday with the same illustrator and narrative style. The books are quite small but hard-bound and should stand up to even the most active readers.
A simple ode to all food has to offer. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7624-6096-0
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
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Pasquali’s talents deserve better than this erratically applied gimmick.
Santa Claus makes a few deliveries on Christmas Eve.
In droll double-page paintings, which look to be acrylics in rich, warm colors, a cheerful Santa flies his sleigh and whooshes down the chimney. Each page is embedded with a “finger-trail” (created by cutting out the top portion of the page to make an indentation and reveal a layer of patterned paper underneath) for little ones to trace the path of Santa’s flying sleigh or the reindeers’ footprints in the snow. Out of all Pasquali’s books that use the finger-trail gimmick, this one is the most effective, and the colorful touch-and-feel elements lend themselves to Santa’s annual nocturnal journey. Unfortunately, not all of the footprints have been cut away, resulting in a frustrating inconsistency for an audience that can least tolerate it. The workmanlike prose describes the scenes, while action and onomatopoeic words (“plod,” “whoosh” and “tip-toe”) accompany the finger-trail feature.
Pasquali’s talents deserve better than this erratically applied gimmick. (Board book. 18 mo.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7459-6242-9
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Trafalgar Square
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
To enjoy this simple rendition, don’t scrutinize the backdrops too closely.
This dreidel-shaped board book brings to life a condensed version of the well-known Hanukkah song.
Anthropomorphic raccoon, beaver, mouse, owl and bear families celebrate the holiday in their woodland homes. Each double-page spread shows a different critter family spinning dreidels, lighting menorahs, frying latkes, serving jelly doughnuts or enjoying other traditional activities. The song synchs up well to the page turns, presenting just enough of the song to engage young attention spans. The menorahs, made of logs, acorns, stones and other natural materials, are a clever touch. Since most families light Hanukkah candles at nightfall, the skies seem much too bright, and the forest floor is a little too green for a late fall/early winter holiday, however.
To enjoy this simple rendition, don’t scrutinize the backdrops too closely. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-53364-5
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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