This charming story is as light as air yet carries heft. (Picture book. 2-4)
As a Spanish-speaking giraffe and an English-speaking giraffe meet, they discover friendship has no language barriers.
Two giraffes meet—“Oooh / Aaah”—and find they have much in common. They agree the acacia they nibble on is delicious and that they can share water from the same pond. And as they eat and drink, they get to greet. “Hello? / ¿Hola?” and “Good day! / ¡Buenos días!” lead to “Happy / Feliz” and “Friends? / ¿Amigos?” and a shared, enthusiastic “OK.” Time now to celebrate: “Party! / ¡Fiesta!” And after that? “Nap? / ¿Siesta?” of course! The final two-page spread shows a tangle of balloons and giraffes sharing Zzzzs. Some things indeed are universal. The illustrations by Pura Belpré honoree Dominguez, created with pencil and tissue paper, then digitally colorized, feature the two giraffes in bold outlines and a limited palette of earth tones. Each two-page spread positions the English-speaking giraffe on the left and the Spanish-speaking one on the right, with only one word per page. Standing out against a white background, the giraffes, or parts of the giraffes, are depicted from different perspectives that add movement and nuance to the story. With only 20 words (fewer, really, since most words are just the equivalent word in the opposite language), so much can be said. Astute adult readers could turn it into a language lesson or a conversation on friendship.
This charming story is as light as air yet carries heft. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62779-496-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
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A cute and encouraging primer on what goes down at school.
A cheery white tot experiences the first day of school.
In first-person narration conveyed in rhyming couplets, the child dresses in jeans and T-shirt, eats breakfast, gets dropped off by Dad, and joins new classmates for a fun day at school. The child’s class has a diverse population, and the book’s tone is enthusiastically reassuring. The kids play outside, learn their ABCs, paint, and more. “We practice saying ‘thanks’ and ‘please,’ / and how to block germs when we sneeze.” Here, the kids all earnestly sneeze into their elbows while their teacher, a white woman, holds a box of tissues. All along the children are smiling in the ubiquitous board-book style, but as a balm for school-day jitters, the calm colors and smiling faces are effective. This title isn’t a must read, but if a little reader is nervous about going to school this title will do the trick. Judging by the size of the school and the sidewalk drop-off routine, these kids are going to kindergarten rather than preschool, which makes the audience for this board book unclear. Children of an age to require board pages aren’t ready for kindergarten, and those who are are mostly accustomed to longer books with paper pages. However, toddler siblings of new kindergartners will enjoy this peek at an older sibling’s day.
A cute and encouraging primer on what goes down at school. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8249-1657-2
Page Count: 20
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Children will be intrigued by the fairy-tale quality of this narrative and may enjoy debating the motivations of its...
The pairing of Barnett’s deceptively simple, tongue-in-cheek text with Klassen’s iconic splattered and stenciled watercolor and digital illustrations in earth tones makes for a unique approach to exploring shapes.
Triangle, a black shape with stick legs and large eyes, inhabits a triangular house. Tired of triangular living, he leaves his domain and sets out to play a “sneaky trick” on Square. Walking past a forest of different-sized triangles and shapes resembling huge boulders, he comes to the land of the squares. When he arrives at Square’s house, he hisses at Square’s door like a snake, sending the four-sided shape into conniptions until his laughter gives him away. Mad as heck at the trick, Square chases Triangle back through the forest of shapes to Triangle’s house. Alas, his shape prevents him from entering the triangular doorway. Inadvertently, Square discovers Triangle’s fear of the dark when he blocks the light from the doorway, causing Triangle to cry out with terror. Square claims this is what he intended all along. “But do you really believe him?” The book is limited as shape instruction, as only two easy shapes are depicted, but that’s not really the point. Klassen’s minimalist visuals make for beautiful, surreal landscapes as the shapes go back and forth; Barnett’s even-more-minimalist narrative leaves gaps of many shapes and sizes for readers to ponder.
Children will be intrigued by the fairy-tale quality of this narrative and may enjoy debating the motivations of its peculiar characters. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9603-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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