Skip.
Spring rains fall on a variety of happy animals in this rhyming board book.
Rhyming text that doesn't mesh with the pictures makes this a disappointing outing. Mostly the rhymes work but sometimes at the expense of scansion: some lines have seven syllables and some have eight, so the rhythm doesn’t always flow. The presentation of ideas seems mostly to be made in service of the rhyming couplets rather than meaningful internal relationships. For example, with “A flowing creek fills up with rain / Rain seeps down into the drain,” the juxtaposition of a creek and a drain simply does not make sense. More significantly, the rhyming text is mismatched with the greeting-card illustrations. Individually, the illustrations are cute, but there is no continuity. The pictures that work best parallel the text, but when an animal is not specifically named, the choices seem arbitrary if not downright peculiar: the smiling, rain-soaked cats seem especially unlikely. This book and its companion titles (Hail to Spring, Sunshine Brightens Springtime, and A Windy Day in Spring) are certainly cheerful, but they are also forgettable.
Skip. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4795-6042-4
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Picture Window Books
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming, not-so-simple board book that will surely engage.
A bird embarks on a long journey.
In the first double-page spread, a yellow bird arrives at the foot of a tall tree after what the text calls “a very long journey,” but her story is far from over. As she makes a home in her tree and then a family with a red bird who joins her, this board book explores the circle of life. The book’s illustrations are large and rounded, mostly circles or half-circles, enhancing that “circle of life” theme. The book holds removable play pieces that can be slotted into the compositions in different ways. For example, a round yellow piece symbolizing the sun can be taken, flipped, and inserted into a recess in the picture opposite as the bushy round crown of a tree. Each double-page spread offers at least one removable piece to be fitted into the opposite page; they do not require carrying over into subsequent spreads. The interactive play is a perfect spice to a simple story that will delight little ones. The pieces aren’t dangerously tiny, but some will inevitably make their ways under the couch or become stuck between cushions. Luckily the compositions still work well enough without them.
A charming, not-so-simple board book that will surely engage. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5922-5
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
If little fingers are too interactive, they will make this offering permanently inactive.
As an orange cat explores a fanciful landscape, little ones are invited to turn, twist, or slide large buttons in this French import.
A square, circle, star, and triangle are visible through die-cut holes in the cover and interior pages corresponding to these brightly colored shapes. Within, a small orange cat (who often gets lost on the pages due to his diminutive size) meanders through the somewhat psychedelic landscape by zooming in an airplane, balancing on a leaf, and floating on a cloud. On every other double-page spread, youngsters are invited to manipulate one of the large, paper knobs, which seem to be made out of cut, stacked, and glued board pages. When the green square is twisted to the left, a panel hidden between the board pages flips up out of the top of the book, causing the birds that are painted on it to appear to fly out of the tree as if the cat has startled them. The star-shaped knob makes butterflies shoot up and to the right on another panel. Manipulating the triangle and the circle cause a palm tree to grow and the sun and a rainbow to appear, respectively. Unfortunately, the manipulatives may not stand up to abuse, particularly as children who try to replicate the “twist” that triggers the first special effect may entirely detach the star and triangle with the same action. Text offering direction and light observations appears on the verso, but Fouquier’s whimsical art in bubble-gum colors is what primarily draws the eye. While the large buttons are big enough not to cause choking-hazard concerns, their flimsy construction makes them unlikely to survive many readings by active toddlers.
If little fingers are too interactive, they will make this offering permanently inactive. (Novelty/board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-2-40802-469-7
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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