May inspire some bathroom fun among readers; get those sponges ready….
When the family’s away, the toiletries play in this follow-up to Kitchen Disco (2017).
“When you kids go off to school, / And grown-ups go to work… / Your bathroom comes ALIVE / and all the things there go berserk!” The antics of various articles are depicted in ultrabright colors and tight rhymes. Shampoo plays “funky beats,” then “rinses and repeats.” The toothpaste “wriggles” and “squeezes,” the loofahs “dance like they don’t care,” and the mouthwash has “minty moves” all his own. Inevitably, the party gets a bit out of hand. The bathroom is a mess, and the family will be home soon. Shampoo organizes the cleanup. “And don’t forget the foam!” The two kids in the family notice that some bathroom articles have moved…and wonder. Party on! Foges’ punny text keeps a steady beat, but it is repetitive, missing an opportunity to present more vocabulary. Murphy makes each page a riot of shapes and colors. The various bathroom items have googly eyes, smiling mouths, and pipestem arms and legs, displaying a remarkable amount of personality. Readers can (and should) access the “Bathroom Boogie” video on YouTube, where a plummy British voice (kind of) raps the verse and children join him to sing the chorus. Notably, the family is biracial; the kids’ mom is white and the dad is black.
May inspire some bathroom fun among readers; get those sponges ready…. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-5713-4045-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
We’ll say it: a toothsome experience.
Flash those pearly whites!
Renowned poet Florian’s jaunty rhymes suggest that a hygiene ritual many children consider bothersome can be “fun! fun! fun!” Each spread features lively scenes showing kids demonstrating tooth- and mouth-cleansing techniques as well as two couplets in which the second exclamatory lines—containing a word repeated three times—rhyme with each other (“Toothpaste on the / brush! brush! brush!” “Take your time. / Don’t rush! rush! rush!”). Parents and caregivers seeking an enjoyable, stimulating way to motivate youngsters to perform this important daily task may wish to recite the rollicking verses to provide a pleasant, rhythmic, chanting “background” whenever their kids wield their toothbrushes. The colorful, energetic illustrations depict happy, wide-eyed, racially diverse small children—some with missing teeth—taking care of their oral-hygiene business with gusto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
We’ll say it: a toothsome experience. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4998-1340-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
If Black Lives Matter, they deserve more specificity than this.
A lushly illustrated picture book with a troubling message.
Little Lala walks with her father after his successful day of fishing. When Mama calls her home for bed, a host of “good night”s delays her: to the bird, the monkey, and even the rock. As Lala wanders through her village in the darkening twilight, readers appreciate its expansive beauty and Lala’s simple joys. Although it’s been artfully written and richly illustrated by an award-winning author of many multicultural stories, this book has problems that overshadow its beauty. “African veld” sets the story in southern Africa, but its vague locale encourages Americans to think that distinctions among African countries don’t matter. Lala wears braids or locks that stick straight up, recalling the 19th-century pickaninny, and her inconsistent skin color ranges from deep ebony like her father’s to light brown. Shadows may cause some of these differences, but if it weren’t for her identifiable hair, readers might wonder if the same child wanders from page to page. Perhaps most striking of all is Lala’s bedtime story: not an African tale but an American classic. While this might evoke nostalgia in some readers, it also suggests that southern Africa has no comparably great bedtime books for Lala, perhaps in part because American children’s literature dominates the world market.
If Black Lives Matter, they deserve more specificity than this. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-17384-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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