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WHO’S YAWNING?

Name: WHO’S YAWNING?
Author: David Bedford
ISBN: 978-1-921272-48-6

by David Bedford & illustrated by Leonie Worthington ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2009

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Bright yellow endpapers enclose this lift-the-flap book in which a questioning pachyderm asks, “Who’s yawning?” The format is an acknowledged child-pleaser, but there is a fatal flaw to the execution here. If a cat was yawning, it would not say “Miaa-aa-oo-www!” If a horse was yawning, it would not say “Nnn-ee-iii-gh!” That is speaking or making a sound. A yawn takes in air and lets it out and pretty much sounds and looks alike for animals and humans, and any child who’s spent time with a pet already knows this. This bedtime story eventually finds all the animals awake and the elephant sleeping with a “SSSSSShhh!” Worthington’s illustrations are bright and include clues around the flap to guess the animal underneath, although the flap edge is not always well-integrated into the picture beneath, resulting in some oddly chopped-off limbs and leaves. This overtly appealing concept book gives young readers the repetition they love, the fun of a guessing-game and a bedtime plot, but the chosen verb “yawning” makes all the animal noises a cacophony of errors. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: July 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-921272-48-6

Page Count: 16

Publisher: Little Hare/Trafalgar

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
TWO TOUGH CROCS
by David Bedford ; illustrated by Tom Jellett

- BOOK REVIEW
MOLE'S BABIES
by David Bedford & illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw

- BOOK REVIEW
MOLE’S IN LOVE
by David Bedford and illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: June 9, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
CON POLLO
by Jimmy Fallon & Jennifer Lopez ; illustrated by Andrea Campos

- SEEN & HEARD
Jimmy Fallon Christmas Book Coming This Fall

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TEN LITTLE FISH

by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Bruce Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2004

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This charming, colorful counting tale of ten little fish runs full-circle. Although the light verse opens and closes with ten fish swimming in a line, page-by-page the line grows shorter as the number of fish diminishes one-by-one. One fish dives down, one gets lost, one hides, and another takes a nap until a single fish remains. Then along comes another fish to form a couple and suddenly a new family of little fish emerges to begin all over. Slick, digitally-created images of brilliant marine flora and fauna give an illusion of underwater depth and silence enhancing the verse’s numerical and theatrical progression. The holistic story bubbles with life’s endless cycle. (Picture book. 3-5)