The makers of Baby University should take Child Development 101, as this entry is best for those long out of diapers.
Simple graphics and straightforward text introduce little ones to epidemiology.
As in other Baby University offerings, balls are used to illustrate complex topics, here representing people and populations. A disembodied, round head with white skin covered in magnified viruses is shown spreading the disease to other heads with a variety of complexions, from white to dark brown. Next readers see a map of Australia sprinkled with even larger viruses, which spread across the globe. Health-worker heads surveil and trace contacts while the sick circles who are exposed isolate or quarantine. The text provides basic definitions for key concepts, highlighting specialized vocabulary in bright colors (usually red, but in one instance yellow—a poor choice for legibility against the white background). It is a laudable goal to introduce the youngest to this of all topics, but much of the content misses the mark for the intended audience. Youngsters may be confused by the oversized viruses, and the giant swab demonstrating testing is more scary than reassuring. By the same token, there’s not nearly enough attention paid to what children are experiencing every day, like hygiene and distancing. As with many other entries in this series, the book is best suited to preschoolers and early-elementary children—not babies and toddlers.
The makers of Baby University should take Child Development 101, as this entry is best for those long out of diapers. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3416-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
A mix of fabs and flubs, but there are plenty of opportunities for interactive play nonetheless, at least as long as the...
Cardboard tools for budding carpenters.
Each of the five heavy-duty press-out tools can be put to immediate use—turning screws on the page opposite the screwdriver, for instance, or making a satisfying “whoopa-whoopa” by sliding the saw through five adjacent die-cut slots. It’s not going to be quite so easy, though, to measure “1 board” when the accompanying slotted tape measure has no numbers on it (and is also shorter than the board and very sticky and hard to work, to boot). Readers are encouraged to use the wrench to “tighten 2 nuts,” but those nuts are on smooth posts rather than threads, so they simply spin fruitlessly rather than tightening. The four flat “nails” that can be hammered into slots are small enough to make the toddler advisory on the rear cover a necessity, too. Still, the tools and other pieces are large enough for post-toddlers to wield easily, and they offer tantalizing previews of what handling real tools will be like. The book closes with an encouraging “Good job using your tools!”
A mix of fabs and flubs, but there are plenty of opportunities for interactive play nonetheless, at least as long as the parts stay with the book. (Novelty board book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2929-4
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Skimpy with just six spreads but, like its companions, a simple, serene seasonal posy.
Carter completes his round of seasonal tributes with pop-up sprays of luscious-looking small fruits, garden bounty, and bright flowers.
As before, the locale is a generalized western United States, and both early- and late-season flora and foliage are on display in the same scenes. Along with lots of labels for the neatly limned animals and vegetation in each broad, idyllic landscape—from a “cedar waxwing” nibbling on a “cherry” to the marbled-paper “chickens” pecking beneath a tree heavy with ripe apples—he adds leading questions (“Who eats the flowers?” “Who looks like a stick?”) to invite closer looks. Frisky “chipmunks” are named in the first tableau, then visible without an identifier in each of the following five for younger viewers to point out. Highlighted by a spiraling cucumber vine that turns the vegetable garden into a convincing tangle, the pop-ups are simple and (relatively) sturdy but rear gracefully to surprising heights considering the volume’s small trim size.
Skimpy with just six spreads but, like its companions, a simple, serene seasonal posy. (Informational pop-up picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2832-7
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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