As a quilt warms a newborn, so this quilt of rhymes warms the new relationship between parent and child. Childhood rhymes alternate with questions that will spark an interaction between baby and parent, prompting them to point out and name objects in the scene or imitate the action in the text. Rhymes include such favorites as, “Star light, star bright,” “Head, shoulders, knees and toes,” “Charlie, Charlie in the tub,” “Five little monkeys” and “Rock-a-bye baby.” Combining the looks of a sampler and a quilt, Downes’s remarkably detailed artwork is a mixture of embroidery, appliqué and watercolor. Where the rhymes in the text stop, the illustrations continue to teach, picturing and labeling the food groups, types of homes, emotions, family members, clothing and bathtime paraphernalia. A wide variety of skin tones and situations ensure that every audience will find the familiar. An envelope glued to the inside back cover can hold special mementos from the first year, while a bookplate at the beginning makes it baby’s own. A cute gift for a baby shower. (Picture book. 1-3)
Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-2786-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
This brisk read is a solid accompaniment to Easter preparations.
Little bunnies prepare for the definitive bunny holiday.
Bunnies prepare for Easter in this board book. In verse set to the cadence of “This Little Piggy,” bunnies go to market, bake a cake, paint eggs, weave a basket, and do all sorts of other things to get ready for Easter. Rescek’s illustrations take full advantage of spring’s color palette, employing purples, pinks, oranges, and blues and incorporating striped and spotted ovals evoking Easter eggs. Little readers learning about the Easter Bunny for the first time will be delighted to get a peek at the process bunnies may go through to prepare for Easter and how it mirrors activities they perform with their parents.
This brisk read is a solid accompaniment to Easter preparations. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0105-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This holiday ditty misses too many beats.
The traditional story of the first Thanksgiving is set to the tune of “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” and stars rodents instead of humans.
The titular itsy-bitsy Pilgrim, a mouse dressed in iconic Puritan garb, sails to “a home that’s new” with three other mice on the Mayflower. They build a house, shovel snow, and greet some “itsy bitsy new friends,” who are chipmunks dressed as Native Americans complete with feathered headbands, beaded necklaces, and leather clothing. While Rescek’s art is droll and lively, it is wildly idealized, and the Native Americans’ clothing does not reflect what is understood of Wampanoag attire. The companion title, The Itsy Bitsy Reindeer, presents equally buoyant scenes. The reindeer and several elves, who appear to be white children with pointed ears, help Santa (also white) prepare for his annual sleigh-ride delivery. In both books, would-be singers may struggle to fit all the words and syllables into the meter, and a couple of rhymes are extremely forced (“shop” and “job”?).
This holiday ditty misses too many beats. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6852-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
