Decent but not extraordinary.
Animal sounds, a barnyard setting and a search for a missing mommy are the elements that coalesce into this pleasing if not terribly distinguished tale.
Little Kitty wakes up from a nap and discovers that her mother is gone. After a fruitless search in the barn, she encounters a little calf and asks for help. The calf cheerfully instructs, “Listen to me carefully. / I’ll tell you what to do. / Whenever I want my mommy, / I just call MOO, MOO, MOO.” (While the baby animals all speak in rhyme, the rest of the narrative is conveyed in ordinary prose.) Of course Little Kitty summons the mommy cow instead of her own. The pattern continues with piglet, duckling and a colt. In despair, she curls up and begins to cry, “Meow, meow, meow.” As her cries get progressively louder, Julian provides a full bleed spread in warm hues featuring kitty’s mommy looking out from a wagon. “Quick as a wink, she came running.” The conclusion is more than a bit pat: “Little Kitty never forgot how to call her mommy again.” This sweet story will most likely appeal to toddlers and young preschoolers. With ample opportunities to join in on the animal calls, this is an easy choice for storytime or sharing one-on-one, but it is hardly the only farm/animal-noise book on the shelf.
Decent but not extraordinary. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4032-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.
A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.
Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-611-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
