A clever, multispecies celebration of the father-child bond.
From pups and dogs to tadpoles and frogs, this book introduces young children to the names of daddy animals and those of their babies.
The rich and engaging mixed-media illustrations place the animal pairings in their natural contexts, each depicting a snapshot of their relational interactions. With rhyming sentences on every two-page spread, this inspiring volume allows children—alone or with their parents, caregivers, and/or educators—to become familiar with a dozen baby/daddy animal-name dyads. “If you were a duckling afloat on a lake, / Your daddy would be a colorful drake.” Each particular name is set off from the rest of the text in colored, boldfaced, and italicized text. The rhythmical writing, alongside the soft humor it encompasses, allows for the new information to be effortlessly internalized and committed to memory. One delightful, crowd-pleasing twist is in the transition from a father robin feeding his hatchlings to a different kind of hatchling: “a DINOSAUR!” The book is complemented with useful and well-thought-out enhancements: a narrative to spark conversation, further information on all animals mentioned in the previous pages, a matching game, and tips for reading.
A clever, multispecies celebration of the father-child bond. (Informational picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58469-626-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Young children will enjoy this very basic introduction to a Jewish holiday celebration.
It’s a festive Passover Seder for two families.
“With fresh springtime flowers and once-a-year dishes, / Two candles stand straight / See our grand seder plate / At our table for this seder night.” A white father, black mother, and their two children join an all-white multigenerational family for the spring Jewish festival of Passover. The narrator, the young son of the hosting family, describes the cushions on the chairs, the wine/grape-juice glasses, the special foods, the water for washing hands and the water for dipping greens, the afikomen for hiding, and Elijah’s and Miriam’s cups for two very special guests. All this is related with the cheerful refrain: “At our table for this seder night.” Those who observe and those who are unfamiliar with the many steps of the Seder will enjoy the details tailored to a young audience—the family pets join in as the celebrants sing “Dayenu,” among other side business. Readers hoping for more background information on Elijah’s and Miriam’s cups will be disappointed, however. The digital illustrations are lively and spirited, featuring many smiling faces and kippot on the men and boys.
Young children will enjoy this very basic introduction to a Jewish holiday celebration. (author’s note, glossary) (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8075-0446-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
Supported by helpful backmatter including a simple map, this will interest animal-fact lovers and primary classroom teachers...
Animal babies from around the world describe their families.
This information-packed title not only describes varied family structures and child-rearing practices, it gives the proper names of the children for each of 23 species and, for nine, the word for “mother” or “father” rendered in the language appropriate to the animal’s home. Appealing digital paintings show animals, usually a parent and offspring, in their usual habitat. Set directly on the image in thin but readable type is the animal child’s statement: “I’m in charge of all my meals” (white rhino calf); “My dad gives piggybacks” (poison dart frog tadpole); “I’m a super sister” (meerkat pup). The examples come from around the world; the parental behaviors represent the wide variety seen among humans. Often a spread will show contrasts: beavers live in one place, orangutans “move around a bunch”; sharks look just like their parents, ladybugs are markedly different as larvae and pupae. For same-sex or adoptive families, the author offers one-of-a-kind or unusual examples: the male chinstrap penguin pair from a New York zoo; a dog named Guddi who adopted a monkey; female albatross parenting pairs in Hawaii. She concludes with a spread of diverse human families of varying and sometimes contrasting colors, ethnicities, and composition.
Supported by helpful backmatter including a simple map, this will interest animal-fact lovers and primary classroom teachers alike. (glossary, map and key, author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5124-2532-1
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
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