The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon.
This bedtime book offers simple rhymes, celebrates the numbers one through 10, and encourages the counting of objects.
Each double-page spread shows a different toddler-and-caregiver pair, with careful attention to different skin tones, hair types, genders, and eye shapes. The pastel palette and soft, rounded contours of people and things add to the sleepy litany of the poems, beginning with “Goodnight, one fork. / Goodnight, one spoon. / Goodnight, one bowl. / I’ll see you soon.” With each number comes a different part in a toddler’s evening routine, including dinner, putting away toys, bathtime, and a bedtime story. The white backgrounds of the pages help to emphasize the bold representations of the numbers in both written and numerical forms. Each spread gives multiple opportunities to practice counting to its particular number; for example, the page for “four” includes four bottles of shampoo and four inlaid dots on a stool—beyond the four objects mentioned in the accompanying rhyme. Each home’s décor, and the array and types of toys and accoutrements within, shows a decidedly upscale, Western milieu. This seems compatible with the patronizing author’s note to adults, which accuses “the media” of indoctrinating children with fear of math “in our country.” Regardless, this sweet treatment of numbers and counting may be good prophylaxis against math phobia.
The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93378-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though some adults might suck their teeth at a few of the suggested uses, the message that books are fun (and useful)...
Books are everywhere, as these adorable toddlers prove!
The word “book” is paired with a second word on each page or spread as a troupe of little ones demonstrates the meaning. The first spread reads, “Book big,” and shows a child opening a massive book to a picture of an elephant; both book and illustration dwarf the tot. Small, wide and tall follow. Then comes “Book build / book mat / book chair / book hat,” all across one spread, and the children use the books as indicated. The multiethnic toddlers interact with books throughout, and many have befitting titles. In “Book park,” three munchkins sit in swings; one is holding the book Trees Are the Bee’s Knees, while another has dropped Oops-a-Daisy! by accident. The illustrations are full of charm, and the mouse that figures throughout will provide children an additional means of engagement. The children have dots for eyes and squiggles for facial features, and humorous touches, such as a diaper peeking out over a waistband, abound. The large size and nice, heavy paper stock make this lap friendly.
Though some adults might suck their teeth at a few of the suggested uses, the message that books are fun (and useful) certainly overrides that. In two words: Books rule! (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-37506-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
An elemental origami odyssey.
Bathtime adventures—starring a boy, a teddy and a paper boat.
Sailing in a boat folded from a map of the author’s native Tasmania, Milo and his plush sidekick, Millie, brave huge waves, big frogs, a whale, floating blocks and at last a great whirlpool. Though all of this happens before the tub appears in the simple, white-backgrounded watercolors, an initial encounter with a giant rubber ducky should clue even toddlers in to the nature of Milo’s “ocean.” With the turn of a page, the boat vanishes (Robaard provides step diagrams for folding a new one at the end) as boy and magically dried-off bear are transported from bathroom into bed: “Good night.” Reflecting the sparely detailed art, Milo’s commentary runs to just a phrase or sentence fragment per spread: “We sailed past a busy city… / which was guarded by fearsome frogs.” (Though large, the frogs do not look particularly ferocious, and a windup key is clearly visible protruding from the belly of one of them.)
An elemental origami odyssey. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6783-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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