A cousin to Eric Hill’s Spot series, derailed by a problematic end.
Drollery for the diapered set: Distinctly out-of-place creatures lurk beneath glued-in flaps.
Aiming for toddler audiences, Shuttlewood crafts very simple screen-print–style scenes with bemused, popeyed animals. On each spread, a single large flap imperfectly conceals an interloper—from a penguin in the titular tree to an octopus in a jungle setting, an elephant floating behind a cloud and a lion on an ice floe. Along with visual clues, the author adds a rhymed text with broad hints: “In ice and snow / who does not GO, / with mane so thick / and roar so LOW?” It’s all good fun, until a final gathering in a zoo finds the errant creatures disturbingly proclaiming: “WHO’S in this zoo / and just won’t do? / NOT US! / The odd one out is… / YOU!” Although the pig looks out at readers and encourages them to “join our crew,” this may well catch readers off guard. This is followed by a closing gallery with clear labels that make the accompanying “Did you guess the names of all the animals?” not much of a challenge.
A cousin to Eric Hill’s Spot series, derailed by a problematic end. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4549-1193-7
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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