A playful addition to the siblings-at-play shelf.
Two anthropomorphized elephants play pretend in three minichapters.
“Wee-ooo! Wee-ooo!” Wendel, a toddler-sized elephant, wields his toy firetruck’s hose and knocks down his big sister’s building-block creations. Maggie’s angry, but noticing that her anger distresses him, she calls out for help—inviting firefighter Wendel to save the day. Where the living room had a blank white background, the fantasy firefighting scene has a black background, a brick building, rising flames, and water gushing from the hose. Doerrfeld uses the same thick-lined drawings in the real-world settings and the imagination settings, but in the fantasy scenes, the backgrounds are dark, simultaneously more ominous and more whimsical than the real world, and more colors appear. In the second story, pet-shop proprietor Maggie tries to satisfy picky customer Wendel; both the chosen pet and the rejected ones come to amusing, expressive life in the fantasy scene. The third story begins in a fantasy setting: Maggie’s rescuing Wendel from a cave-prison, in some sort of jungle with a red ocean. Suddenly the scene toggles back to their real-life dining room and living room, where their mom’s observing the havoc wreaked by the game. Will she scold? Nope—she sets sail with them in their steampunk water-to-air ship. Text is minimal throughout, and even speech bubbles sometimes contain symbols (a dollar sign; a sea monster) rather than words.
A playful addition to the siblings-at-play shelf. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3974-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.
A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.
Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-611-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
A satisfying friendship story to share with very young children in the days leading up to Halloween.
This board book twists the traditional “Teeny Tiny” tale into a less-scary Halloween treat.
This version uses a singsong-y rhythm and cadence to tell the story. “In the teeny tiny barn / Of a teeny tiny house... / Lived a teeny tiny ghost / and a teeny tiny mouse.” Of course the ghost (being teeny tiny) is not very frightening. “But the determined little ghost / Let her mighty courage through / And with a teeny tiny breath / She said a teeny tiny: boo.” Spoiler alert: After just seven page turns the ghost and mouse become friends: “And now the teeny tinies play / In the teeny tiny house. / Just a teeny tiny ghost / And her best friend, mouse.” Pumpkins decorate the cover and final spread and illustrations throughout are in autumnal hues. The fairly high-for-the-format word count—19 to 21 words per page—may be more than toddlers will sit still for, but the “teeny tiny” repetition and rhymes will help. The size (just 6 inches square) makes using the book with a group a challenge, but with a lap-sitting child, it’ll be a pleasure.
A satisfying friendship story to share with very young children in the days leading up to Halloween. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31848-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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