For settings that can’t get enough of farm-animal board books
Yet another board book designed to introduce farm animals to young children.
The twist in this offering, a follow-up to Night-Night Forest Friends (2013), is that initially the animals are asleep. Readers meet them as the sun rises over idyllic farm scenes rendered digitally in ink and paint. The first spread is quite dark, with a haloed sun that goes from beige to deep purple as the concentric arcs move up the page. A dark red barn sits on a hill above gray-green rolling meadows. Subsequent pages employ the same muted palette in ever lighter shades. Each spread features a standard farm animal: ducks, dogs, sheep, pigs, cows, horses, with chickens and a cartoonish rooster occupying two spreads. The surprising addition of llamas on the fourth spread is apt as domesticated llamas become more common in North America. This must be a free-range farm; the second-to-last spread shows all the animals on both sides of a pasture fence. The final illustration mimics the opening spread, with the animals in the fields and a yellow sun in the sky. Rhyming text identifies each animal and hints at its habits, with some artistic license: How sheep would open a gate, as they are urged to do, is unclear. Although the wake-up motif is fairly fresh, it’s not enough to make this book top of the crop.
For settings that can’t get enough of farm-animal board books . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-8624-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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
In this board book designed for the littlest llama lovers, adorable-as-ever Llama Llama (Llama Llama Red Pajama, 2005, etc.) gets ready for some Halloween fun.
Dewdney’s characteristic spare, apt rhymes convey a lot of action in effortlessly readable fashion. A charming and simple introduction to Halloween and its associated activities, this title finds little Llama Llama choosing and carving a pumpkin, pouring candy into bowls, picking out a costume and, finally, trick-or-treating. The costume Llama Llama decides to don—pointy teeth and a black mask and cape—is enough to frighten and fool his friends but not readers, who will immediately recognize and smile at the silly little mini-Dracula. With Dewdney’s characters as expressive as ever, young readers will be drawn right into the holiday fun, eagerly anticipating which costume Llama Llama will choose and excited to see him scare his friends and score some candy at trick-or-treat. In the equally appealing companion title, Llama Llama Jingle Bells,the little fellow gets ready for Christmas, baking and decorating some cookies in anticipation of Santa’s arrival. This simple holiday title will win Llama Llama new fans, and old friends will want to add it and its companion to their collections. (Board book. 1-2)
Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-0451469786
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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