Only somewhat successful in its cautionary aim.
There's a lot for this toddler to explore, and some of it is dangerous.
A boy explains about some of the items that are off-limits within his home, telling readers what they can and cannot touch. The child even directs his cat to make appropriate choices. When the cat rifles through the garbage can, the little boy admonishes the feline with a stern command (“The garbage is icky! / Don't touch, kitty!”). Unfortunately, he sometimes uses cutesy language; the electrical outlet is “too sparky.” There are a few things that are safe to touch—yarn, kitty—but there's no instruction about the proper way to approach an animal. One alarming spread presents multiple items with shrieking admonitions; the cat's fur bristles in alarm as it regards such varied items as a fan and a pair of scissors. The final scene depicts the youngster reviewing this book's companion title (Uh-Oh! Oh No!), surrounded by his toys. “Do touch. / Have fun!” Quiet pastels, saturated in lemony yellow, keep spreads in a nursery-inspired palette. Uh-Oh! Oh No! stars the same barefoot toddler in an extreme rapid-fire chain of events sparked by a sippy cup dropped from his high chair.
Only somewhat successful in its cautionary aim. (Board book. 9 mos.-2)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-58925-867-9
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on...
An exploration of the human body through colorful photos.
Every other double-page spread labels the individual parts on one major area: head, torso, back, arm and leg. Ethnically diverse boy-girl pairs serve as models as arrows point to specific features and captions float nearby. While the book usefully mentions rarely depicted body parts, such as eyebrow, armpit and shin, some of the directional arrows are unclear. The arrow pointing at a girl’s shoulder hits her in the upper arm, and the belly button is hard is distinguish from the stomach (both are concealed by shirts). Facts about the human body (“Guess what? You have tiny hairs in your nose that keep out dirt”) appear on alternating spreads along with photos of kids in action. Baby Animals, another title in the Look & Learn series, uses an identical format to introduce readers to seal pups, leopard cubs, elephant calves, ducklings and tadpoles. In both titles, the final spread offers a review of the information and encourages readers to match baby animals to their parents or find body parts on a photo of kids jumping on a trampoline.
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on the right track despite earlier titles that were much too conceptual for the audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1483-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Good fun for early counters.
A one-to-10 counting book featuring a cast of active pigeons.
“One bright and sunny morning, ten pigeons” sit on a wire when along come some bees and throw them all into a tizzy. A handful of the pigeons take off—readers can count their tails in the margins of the pages—so “OK. Let’s try that again. Um, ten minus six is… …four.” Readers can see right on the wire there that if six pigeons fly off, that leaves four—math at its most accessible. Well, there are four until one finds a sandwich that lures four of the dispersed birds to return. That adds up to eight. And there they are, that now gray and cloudy morning, when it starts to rain and six pigeons fly away to seek shelter. Again, readers can count the birds to arrive at the new number, or they can work the equation that is provided: “Let's see…eight minus six is…”? On the counting game goes via interruptions into the twilight, when the narrator gives up—these pigeons won’t stay still long enough to introduce them—until it comes time to go to bed and end the story. Citro’s exasperated text works hand in glove with Watson’s comical birds to make this counting game a joy rather than a task. The narrative text expresses equations in words, and corresponding number sentences are tucked into the scenes.
Good fun for early counters. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-943147-62-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: The Innovation Press
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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