This simple primer on the lizards that once roamed the Earth should inspire plenty of further explorations of the fossil...
Touchable textures, eye-catching foil and glitter, and the titular, winsome baby beasts highlight this introduction for toddlers to these fascinating lizards of yore.
From its thick, cushioned cover through its firm, final pages, this seemingly indestructible volume introduces seven species of dinosaurs, with a few basic facts and the correct pronunciation of each name. A “mommy” Saltasaurus has a long, leathery neck; her chirping offspring hatches from an egg. Children can feel the bumps on Edmontonia’s back and count the toes via his footprints: “His front feet have more toes.” Tyrannosaurus rex walks on two hind legs and eats meat, while baby Diplodocus, shown munching on ferns, is a confirmed vegetarian. Other dinosaurs are simply shown being babies. Triceratops hides in bushes and plays peekaboo, Styracosaurus is alert and playful, and Stegosaurus has fallen peacefully asleep on the last page. The hope, no doubt, is that pint-sized paleontologists reading this book will soon follow suit. Each dinosaur is computer-rendered but loaded with personality. Illustrations are presented on bright, monochromatic backgrounds; each white page is paired with a bright blue, red, yellow, pink, or purple one. Every page includes a textured feature to keep little fingers engaged and busy: leathery skin, gravelly footprints, embossed bumpy hides, or debossed horns or stripes, to name a few.
This simple primer on the lizards that once roamed the Earth should inspire plenty of further explorations of the fossil record. (Board book. 1-5)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4654-6841-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
A fun, new take on droppings.
Youngsters can learn about where and how various animals, domestic and wild, relieve themselves.
Via a pull-tab embedded in each recto (not, thankfully, in the rectum) readers can see the before and after, and a goldfish in a bowl leaves a trail while swimming. The verso asks each creature where it does its business, and then a (sometimes-forced) rhyming quatrain, translated from Italian, answers the question: “And where do YOU poop, mouse? / When inside my tummy / Starts to feel not so good / It’s time for a poop / On these chips made of wood!” The final double-page spread queries readers: “And where do YOU poop?” A redheaded, White toddler’s face is visible below this question; the pull-tab on the right opens a bathroom to reveal a White toddler, this time with medium brown hair, happily and modestly sitting on a blue toddler potty. The accompanying quatrain provides some developmentally appropriate guidance for feeling the signs of a movement coming on. Baruzzi’s art is droll and graphically clean (inasmuch as the depiction of excrement can be described that way). Little fingers may need some help finding the relatively easy-to-open and sturdy pull-tabs, since they blend into each page. It works as both a biology lesson and potty-training encouragement.
A fun, new take on droppings. (Novelty board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66265-042-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
Ho-hum.
A riff on the familiar lullaby depicts various animal parents, and then a human father, soothing their sleepy little ones.
An opening spread includes the traditional first verse of the titular lullaby, but instead of depicting a human baby in a treetop cradle, the accompanying illustration shows a large tree as habitat to the animals that are highlighted on subsequent pages. First the perspective zooms in on a painterly illustration rendered in acrylics of a mother squirrel cuddling her baby with text reading “Rock-a-bye Squirrel, / high in the tree, / in Mommy’s arms, / cozy as can be.” In this spread and others the cadence doesn’t quite fit with the familiar tune, and repeated verses featuring different animals—all opening with the “Rock-a-bye” line—don’t give way to the resolution. No winds blow, no boughs break, and the repetitive forced rhythm of the verse could cause stumbles when attempting a read-aloud. The final image of a human father and baby, whose skin tone and hair texture suggest that they are perhaps of South Asian descent, provides pleasing visual resolution in a book with art that outshines text.
Ho-hum. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3753-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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