“Your family’s a story / That’s unique and true. // A family is beautiful, / As beautiful as you.” Can't argue with that!
A celebration of the myriad permutations of the all-American family.
The book is similar in tone, design, and message to Saks and Smart’s earlier Families Belong (2020). The many families shown combine to represent a range of racial, ethnic, and gender configurations. The accompanying rhyming verses recognize each family’s circumstances, interests, and activities as unique strengths—neither right nor wrong, just different. In one family, the father lying on the floor to play a board game wears a turban. In another, the blond-bearded man has a pale complexion, the woman is dark-skinned with straight black hair, and the child looks like the woman. The accompanying text reads: “A family can look / The same or maybe not. / Dad’s from somewhere cold. / Mom’s from somewhere hot.” Another verse hints at a family’s refugee status: “Some families were born / In places far away / And traveled all together / To where it’s safe to play.” Single, same-gender, and separated or divorced parents are depicted as well as a multigenerational family. Children familiar with the Noodle Loaf podcast version of the song may be initially confused by the added verses and minor word changes, but the new verses fit the original song’s cadence. Playful, clear, uncluttered graphic illustrations match the text while adding details not mentioned in the verses.
“Your family’s a story / That’s unique and true. // A family is beautiful, / As beautiful as you.” Can't argue with that! (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22365-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Guess how much you’ll be reading this.
Parent and child share a day of small adventures and cozy snuggles.
That the two happen to be tortoises is totally beside the point. Die-cut holes and shaped edges turn nearly every page flip into a surprise. Following a parental “Good morning, Baby” to greet the youngling’s “Wake up, wake up, I want to play… / The sun is up, it’s a brand new day!” the two reptiles ramble off to munch on leaves, weather a sudden rain shower, discover a flock of butterflies, climb a hill, watch the moon rise, and, at last, weary little one perched on top, settle down to snooze again. The paper engineering is ingenious. Turning a seemingly arbitrarily shaped page with a special window framing a pink butterfly fills the spread with many jewel-toned insects; even though the tortoises never change position, the scene is completely transformed. Hegarty’s rhymed narrative features lots of tender sentiments—“Wherever you are, wherever you go, / Baby, I’ll always love you so”—while steering clear of any gender references. In Elliott’s peaceful, grassy settings the wanderers’ small smiles and shared glances likewise create a sense of loving intimacy. This is likely to become a victim of its own appeal, being as the paper stock is rather too flimsy to survive much contact with toddler hands. Still, a clear winner for sharing with audiences of one or dozens.
Guess how much you’ll be reading this. (Novelty. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3509-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Another branded entry that offers little beyond the minimum requirements.
The Pout-Pout Fish brand expands.
Halloween is here, and Mr. Pout-Pout Fish is giving out treats from his submarine home. Those familiar with the blue striped fish will find the usual uncluttered illustrations and rhyming scheme (“Who’s at the helm / of the spooky submarine? // It’s you, Mr. Fish! / Have a happy Halloween!”). New readers may be drawn in by the colorful costumes the various fish wear as they trick-or-treat along the ocean floor. Keen-eyed readers with some pumpkin-carving experience may wonder how a jack-o’-lantern can be lit under water. This board book is a fairly standard look at Halloween, putting a popular character in common holiday trappings and adding nothing else. Fans of the holiday will have to look elsewhere for a more exciting take on Halloween’s thrills.
Another branded entry that offers little beyond the minimum requirements. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30191-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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