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HOORAY FOR SPRING! by Chiêu Anh Urban

HOORAY FOR SPRING!

From the Color Wonder series

by Chiêu Anh Urban ; illustrated by Chiêu Anh Urban

Pub Date: Dec. 27th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8720-7
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Six cheerful insects in six corresponding colors celebrate spring in this board book with a color wheel.

An upbeat, four-line rhyme introduces each insect and color as bright flowers of the corresponding color fill each double-page spread. “Wake up, LADYBUG, / Look what’s here. / Spring brings RED— / march and cheer.” A variety of insects (an orange caterpillar, a yellow bumblebee, a green grasshopper, etc.) in cute cartoony illustrations with vivid colors are introduced, one at a time, in each double spread. Toddlers will enjoy the repetition: all the insects from the previous pages are included in every new page, and the rhyme repeats “Spring brings” with each color and has an action component (wiggle, prance, hop, cheer). The word spelling the color on each page is bolded in uppercase letters and written in the corresponding color, strengthening the connection. The two scalloped wheels of different sizes on the last page may be rotated with some difficulty by a toddler. They control the changing colors within a die-cut circle at the center of a large flower on each right-hand page, but they do not emulate the sequencing on a traditional color wheel. The wheels seem advanced for babies, and even for toddlers, the device may not add much value to the book.

The vibrant insects and flowers do not need any help from the gimmick to bring together a colorful spring board book.

(Board book. 2-4)