A charming modernization of the traditional bedtime tale.
In Dehghanpisheh’s modern and unconventional take on the bedtime story, one baby is the subject of a social media storm.
Being a baby isn’t what it used to be. Just ask the protagonist of #BabyLove. His predecessors got to laze around, eating, sleeping, and doing baby things. But this infant is surrounded by social media–savvy adults just waiting to catch his latest adorable antic and share it with the world. Whether it’s breakfast time (#goodMorning), reading time (#bookworm), eating, sleeping (#afternoonroutine), and even during playtime (#happyBaby #noFilter), most illustrations are depicted from the perspective of the screen. The perspective of the screen works well—as do the hearts, stars, likes, and hashtags that adorn each image (supposedly showing how many people have interacted with it). This constant attention isn’t always easy for one baby to handle. But that’s why there’s bedtime—a period of the day reserved just for Mom, Dad, and Baby…at least until Mom snaps the #BestShotOfTheDay. The simple illustrations—a small, roundheaded baby, an adorable dog, and a multicultural cast of friends and family—are endearing. There is an easy cadence to the book, which is written in rhyming couplets; e.g.: “All day long, phones are out / Trying to capture my famous pout.” The baby’s antics are amusing, and equally amusing are the adults’ reactions to them, spread over the Web. The concept will certainly be one only adults can grasp, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially with bedtime stories, which tend to be read over and over again.
A charming modernization of the traditional bedtime tale.Pub Date: July 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9851930-6-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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