Crawling babies will pause to enjoy this story again and again, and older toddlers, perhaps remembering their own crawling...
It may be hard to believe just eight words can make a complete and exciting story, but that’s all this board book needs.
Repeated reading of simple text is how children first learn to read. Kennedy seems to understand this and has created an ideal package for early success. A series of two word exclamations and expressive drawings combine to tell the story of a diaper-clad tot’s evolving relationship with a skeptical hound dog. “Go baby / go baby / go baby. // Go dog.” The baby crawling across a blue floor shows up clearly against a bright yellow wallpaper decorated with simple light blue flowers. The only additions to this pleasing design are a cushy blue chair the baby peers under (“Look baby”) when the dog disappears through a doorway leading to a room with light blue, diamond-patterned wallpaper. Baby’s cries bring the dog back. Spoiler alert: Baby and dog end up sound asleep, together: “Nice baby. / Good dog.” The simple repetitive text shows up clearly when placed against the yellow wall. The text set against the bottom blue stripe is yellow so it stands out boldly too. Baby has pale skin and red hair; dog is white with brown splotches.
Crawling babies will pause to enjoy this story again and again, and older toddlers, perhaps remembering their own crawling escapades, will want it read repeatedly too. They may even read it to their dogs. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8075-2971-3
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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