Flimsy in both format and content.
Flaps reveal the playful antics of a menagerie of animals in this Dutch/Flemish import with a question-and-answer text.
On the verso of each double-page spread, a selection of four or five critters from the same habitat is introduced, such as “Animals in the Jungle” or “Animals in the Woods.” On the exterior of the large flap on the recto, a simple query appears about one of the creatures. “Is the seal swimming in the ocean all by itself?” is the query for the “Animals in the Ocean” double-page spread. Under that flap, the action of the scene is revealed with the players depicted on the facing page interacting together. This toddler bestiary depicts many of the stock players of board books, such as lion, elephant, cow, and pig, but there are a few rarities listed, such as robin (depicted as a European robin), hedgehog, and mole. The art skews toward the cute, depicting chubby beasts with oversized eyes and babyish, smiling faces. Those seeking accurate animal behavior will wish to look elsewhere, since that doesn’t appear to be the goal of this offering—predators and prey are awfully familiar in a couple of scenes. The flimsy flaps may not survive robust toddler play. A finger-sized indentation aids opening the flaps, but their pointy corners may poke little fingers.
Flimsy in both format and content. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-60537-563-2
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
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
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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