The use of simple shapes, multiple colors, a variety of minimally depicted figures (which a child might see in a...
Learn the numerals from 1 through 20 with big, bold pictures and simple captions.
The left-hand side of each double-page spread features the spelled-out number, center top; the numeral in question big and bold below; and all the numerals from 1 to 20 on the bottom, with the chosen one underlined. On the right-hand page is a simple illustration and description: "One smiling snake cuddles his favorite teddy bear," for example. Each number is treated to a different color scheme and different figures to illustrate it. "Six greedy penguins gobble juicy jelly beans" on a mini-iceberg, "[n]ine daring ladybugs show off on their skateboards," and "[s]ixteen lost clouds find their way home" in formation above a pink house with a purple roof. Several jokes are also tucked in. "Fourteen fearless kites fly higher and higher" features a child hitching a ride on the tail of one kite. And "Four freaky frogs have holes in their socks" depicts each frog on its own lily pad, a colorful sock on only one of its feet. After number 20 ("sleepy spiders"), there's a review of each number, taking four pages. There is no unifying theme beyond Basher’s distinctive graphics.
The use of simple shapes, multiple colors, a variety of minimally depicted figures (which a child might see in a kindergarten classroom), big numbers, and ample background space is a winning combination. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6772-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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BOOK REVIEW
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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BOOK REVIEW
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