Nice enough but far from a requisite purchase.
A die-cut board book with a simple presentation of the Christmas theme for the youngest ones.
On the cover, a snowman with a die-cut tummy introduces the theme. Layered behind the round, open circle that makes up his body, readers can glimpse pieces of the pages inside. Open the book and meet the well-known elements of a shopping-mall-secular Christmas celebration: reindeer, elf, bag, presents, sleigh, boots, Mrs. Claus, Santa Claus, Christmas tree, Christmas Eve. The elf and both the Clauses are white. The illustrations are colorful and cheery, but the die cuts are at times problematic. For example, two little circles represent buttons for several figures, including the snowman and Santa’s jacket, but appear as baffling holes on a Christmas present and the sleigh. Though the snowman’s body is cleverly built up from the pages behind it, the big open circle means the body of the reindeer on the next page is just an empty void. That empty void carries through on the left-hand pages, and when it gets to Mrs. Claus, it is an awkward empty space between her knees and her tummy. Still, babies will enjoy the transformations occurring as they turn the pages, and the peekaboo element inherent to die cuts is always sure to please.
Nice enough but far from a requisite purchase. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0344-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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