With so many wonderful ABC books out there, it’s safe to skip this ambitious but ultimately disappointing effort.
This interactive alphabet book describes a dinosaur day at school.
Each double-page spread features one to four letters of the alphabet, accompanied by a couple of lines of rhyming verse. Words in the verse that start with the featured letter(s) are flagged by colorful type, but they are not always strong or memorable choices. For example, the word associated with the letter “A” is “agree” in the following verse: “Busy little dinosaurs, / as a rule, / agree it’s fun / to go to school.” Further, the verses don’t always make for smooth reading, and the “Back-and-Forth” concept falls flat. At the end of the volume, readers are told to “go back to the cutouts / for surprises and fun. / Guess the letters things start with / and then you’ll be done!” Flipping backward, the cutouts appear on every other double-page spread, framing an object that begins with one of the featured letters from that page. Readers can spot them and guess what letter they begin with, yes, but there is no surprise and nothing to be gained from going backward, as these objects appear in the cutouts on a regular read-through just the same. The illustrations are cheerful and often funny, but they can’t make up for the shortfalls here.
With so many wonderful ABC books out there, it’s safe to skip this ambitious but ultimately disappointing effort. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-6237-0234-2
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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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A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale.
The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.
The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages.
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781665990646
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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