Expect gleeful chortles from budding atom-smashers and collision-safety experts.
A trip to visit Zebra turns into a game of colliding creatures in this French book-and-toy import.
Young readers can play along, as the episode comes packaged in a slipcase box with eight thick, rounded, particle-board animal figures. Gorilla, who’s “bored, bored, bored,” decides to visit Zebra for a round of the titular diversion and is joined along the way by Elephant, Lion, Giraffe, and Rhino—the last offering a willing Crocodile to ferry everyone across the wide river. Unfortunately, in midriver the travelers (literally) run into Hippo. “BADABOOM / BADATHUMP!” All end up in a heap in front of Zebra…who thinks that game looks like even more fun than Badaboom Badabump. Deneux cheats a little, stretching Crocodile out in the illustration so that all the animals line up neatly on its back at once, which is not possible with the accompanying toys. Still, along with offering a basic lesson in Newtonian principles, the challenge of finding a way to stack the animals in a stable formation followed by the gratification of ramming them into Hippo and seeing them fly makes a pleasing experience for anyone who likes to bang things together.
Expect gleeful chortles from budding atom-smashers and collision-safety experts. (Board book/novelty. 1.5-3)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 979-1-02760-706-8
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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
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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
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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