Though approaching the text is somewhat challenging, the combo of pets and children is appealing.
An amiable introduction to a menagerie of house pets.
Within this board book’s warmly illustrated pages, young readers meet and learn brief facts about a variety of fluffy, scaled, and feathered critters. Told in short sentences, this work of early nonfiction introduces readers to general types of house pets (cats, dogs, fish, reptiles, birds) and gives a few brief facts about several different species (parakeets, guppies, yellow-bellied sliders). It also reminds readers that pets are a big responsibility, requiring attention and vet care. Unfortunately, the book’s overall look is marred by inconsistent fonts and styles that break each page into choppy sections, making it difficult to read with ease. Factual, if unremarkable statements, like “Dogs are the most popular house pet,” are presented in a large font, while blurbs in a smaller font are more specific and engaging. Animal lovers will likely enjoy learning about cockatiels’ “colorful crest[s]” and how “they really like to whistle!” More consistent than the text are painterly, full-bleed illustrations that showcase the joy of pets. Children and adults who are diverse in skin tone visit an animal shelter, play with a Chihuahua, feed carrots to a thrilled hamster, and brush a pleased-looking cat. The warm, sunny palette with saturated backgrounds is especially appropriate when highlighting the small, precious moments of pet ownership, such as a beaming child hugging a pup. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Though approaching the text is somewhat challenging, the combo of pets and children is appealing. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: June 23, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-955834-46-9
Page Count: 22
Publisher: duopress/Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
Ho-hum.
A riff on the familiar lullaby depicts various animal parents, and then a human father, soothing their sleepy little ones.
An opening spread includes the traditional first verse of the titular lullaby, but instead of depicting a human baby in a treetop cradle, the accompanying illustration shows a large tree as habitat to the animals that are highlighted on subsequent pages. First the perspective zooms in on a painterly illustration rendered in acrylics of a mother squirrel cuddling her baby with text reading “Rock-a-bye Squirrel, / high in the tree, / in Mommy’s arms, / cozy as can be.” In this spread and others the cadence doesn’t quite fit with the familiar tune, and repeated verses featuring different animals—all opening with the “Rock-a-bye” line—don’t give way to the resolution. No winds blow, no boughs break, and the repetitive forced rhythm of the verse could cause stumbles when attempting a read-aloud. The final image of a human father and baby, whose skin tone and hair texture suggest that they are perhaps of South Asian descent, provides pleasing visual resolution in a book with art that outshines text.
Ho-hum. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3753-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
There are better fish in the board-book sea.
Dramatic stock photos and die-cut tabs are the distinguishing features of this board book.
“Did you know that there are over 400 types of sharks?” is an intriguing opening, but readers primed to find out about those specific types may be surprised that the shark on the facing page is not identified. Instead, the picture of a shark above a school of fish gives a sense of its size. Smaller text explains that shark skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone. Layered die cuts that accentuate the nose and mouth of nine different sharks on the right-hand pages invite children to turn the pages quickly. White type printed against various contrasting colors on the left-hand pages offers tidbits of information but is unlikely to make young children pause long enough to be read the text. A picture of almost 40 sharks swimming together seems to contradict the accompanying explanation that many sharks are endangered. A final full-color spread speaks of sharks’ important role in maintaining ocean balance and includes a picture of a grandfatherly shark scientist. The back cover is devoted to information for adults. While intriguing and scientifically credible, the wordy text and seemingly arbitrary factoids are well beyond the attention spans of all but the most avid young fans of the species.
There are better fish in the board-book sea. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4549-2128-8
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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