by Chiêu Anh Urban ; illustrated by Chiêu Anh Urban ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2018
A misfire.
Little readers learn some animal idioms.
Caregivers know the phrases “sly as a fox” and “blind as a bat,” and this board book tries its best to introduce these and other animal idioms to little readers. The resulting read is a disjointed affair: an extreme close-up of a minimally detailed, black-and-white animal’s face takes up one full page on recto, while the opposite page offers simple, rhyming clues to the animal idiom. When readers turn the page they are greeted with a full, detailed, full-color view of the animal. Although the facial features from the previous page are printed on its verso, the relationship between minimalist and full-color versions will be hazy at best to a board-book audience. The initial views purposely give little clue to the creature’s identity, and given the audience’s limited experience, the textual clues aren’t much help either. “Quick and cheeky, / smart and sneaky. / I’m sly as a… / Fox.” While the book succeeds in introducing new vocabulary, it does so in such a decontextualized way that toddlers are unlikely to be able to make use of it. Die-cut peek-through holes (an ox’s nostrils; the joint of a clam’s shell) provide some continuity but seem more gimmick than anything else.
A misfire. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4549-2505-7
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Chiêu Anh Urban
BOOK REVIEW
by Chiêu Anh Urban ; illustrated by Chiêu Anh Urban
BOOK REVIEW
by Chiêu Anh Urban ; illustrated by Chiêu Anh Urban
BOOK REVIEW
by Chiêu Anh Urban ; illustrated by Chiêu Anh Urban
by Nosy Crow ; illustrated by Axel Scheffler ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 25, 2017
The art and writing can stand on their own while the gimmick will likely distract anyone reading aloud even as it delights...
A cow named Cuddly searches for a quiet place to hit the hay in this book with barnyard sounds supplied in an embedded sound chip.
From the cover, toddlers can push a big green button (which doubles as a speaker) to activate the chip, which features a loud moo with other animal sounds in the background; die-cut circles in the lower corner of the cover and subsequent pages ensure its accessibility throughout. Cuddly tries to bunk with the hens, a horse, and the pigs to no avail. She has a brainstorm and counts the sheep in a field and quickly falls asleep. Scheffler, of The Gruffalo fame, uses richly colored gouache to paint scenes with friendly, wide-eyed farm residents against pastoral backgrounds. Young readers may be confused to see a very bright sky in this tale set at twilight. Each one-page scene is paired with a nicely scanning quatrain set in a large font against a brightly colored background on the opposite page. In the companion title, titular Higgly Hen loses her eggs as they hatch, legs first, and then walk away. In slapstick fashion, she chases the walking eggs around the farm until she finds them all in time for them to complete their emergence. This offering sports a large yellow button that clucks realistically when pressed. The battery can be replaced by opening a panel (with a tiny Phillips screwdriver) in the back of the book, but caregivers may choose to let the noisemaker die a natural death.
The art and writing can stand on their own while the gimmick will likely distract anyone reading aloud even as it delights little ears and fingers. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9325-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
More by Nosy Crow
BOOK REVIEW
by Nosy Crow ; illustrated by Gerry Turley
BOOK REVIEW
by Nosy Crow ; illustrated by The Trustees of the British Museum
BOOK REVIEW
by Nosy Crow ; illustrated by Gerry Turley
by Quarto Publishing ; illustrated by Anna Kövecses ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 2017
Appealingly playful.
Little Mouse introduces little ones to various opposites in this lift-the-flap offering.
On the left-hand page, the cartoon mouse sets up the scene with a simple query and image: “What time is it, Little Mouse?” On the recto, the blocky text, accompanied by an image of the sun shining on the outside of the flap, reads: “It is daytime. The opposite of daytime is….” Inside the flap, with a star-spangled dark-blue night sky, is the answer: “night-time!” This pattern repeats for a total of eight opposite pairs, such as small and big, up and down, happy and sad, etc. The companion title, Counting Things, utilizes the same russet mouse for an enumeration of various items (tigers, chickens, cars, and such) up to 10. Oddly, the words for each number are written out rather than showing the more recognizable numerals. The opening of the flap cleverly adds one more to the objects being counted. Kövecses’ graphically appealing art uses stripped-down shapes in muted blocks of color to construct toddler-friendly images. The flaps are relatively sturdy with nicely rounded corners.
Appealingly playful. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78603-038-2
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
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.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.