This book has virtually nothing going for it.
A polar bear looks for a friend.
None of the arctic foxes want to play with Teddy the polar bear. He tries searching underwater for a friend, to no avail. He doesn’t find one until he hears the splashing of a creature that’s fallen through the ice, which he somehow knows just from the sound is a female—perhaps it was a feminine splash? Teddy jumps to the rescue, and the book comes to a fairly perfunctory end. The big draw are the sliding tabs that open and close Teddy’s jaws on each spread. Little readers can make Teddy talk, cry, chomp, and smile. In a design flaw that must be unintended, Teddy’s gaping mouth unsettlingly frames the unfortunate polar bear who’s fallen through the ice, causing little readers to think perhaps that he is eating her. The sliding panels are more durable than most, but children with a habit of destroying flaps and tabs in board books will slowly wear these out as well. The illustrations are bland, with a white, gray, and blue color scheme that makes every page feel a bit ho-hum. The text is devoid of rhyme or flourish, plainly describing the events as they unfold with little flair. Feminist readers will grind their own teeth at the hoary damsel-in-distress plotline.
This book has virtually nothing going for it. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0345-7
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 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.
