Undeniably sweet even if neither theme nor treatment is particularly new.
A rhyming board book about the love between a parent and child.
As the title suggests, this offering is all about the ways that caregivers love, protect, care for, and cherish their children. Each turn of the page reveals a new adult-child animal pair with its own rhyming stanza. The text explores many facets of parental love—celebrating it not just when things are sunny, but also on stormy days and through sadness. One particularly sweet rhyme relates, “I’ll hold you when sadness / and tears fill your eyes. / My arms will be there / to catch all your cries.” Most of the text includes simple rhymes (sky/fly and sand/hand for example), and none are forced or read aloud awkwardly. The illustrations include anthropomorphized animals in mostly bright pastels with simple smiling expressions. Much like the text, they’re cute enough, but there’s not a lot of variation in style. The bat pup wrapped up in its parent’s wings is an especially darling pair; they do indeed look “all cozy and snug.” Glancing references to “prayers” and “God” give the text a slight religious edge, though the book is otherwise secular. Given that this is designed to be shared with a lap-sitting child, it’s a bit lengthy.
Undeniably sweet even if neither theme nor treatment is particularly new. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4964-4622-0
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Tyndale Kids
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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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