Bouncer’s story is busy and slightly confusing, but it’s pleasant enough.
Bouncer the bunny is a picky eater who knows what she likes in the latest entry in the Pick Me Up! series.
Five somewhat confused-looking bunnies star in a light entertainment for toddlers that might have been subtitled, “Quest for Carrots.” Like the other Pick Me Up! books, this volume’s pages are die cut to resemble a pet carrier, with a handle at the top and the hungry protagonist peering through a window. If the handle promotes extra handling and reading by kids, that is all to the good. The plot is simple: Bouncer is hungry, but, when offered hay, sprouts, and spinach by her rabbit friends, she turns up her nose, holding out for carrots. Fortunately for Bouncer, the whole affair ends in a picnic lunch complete with an enormous, crunchy carrot. Artist Hare (yes, Hare) creates collages combining stock photos, swatches of color, and simple graphics. The rabbits’ expressions don’t vary much, although one startling close-up of Bouncer bears a passing resemblance to internet sensation Grumpy Cat. The primary text is rhymed across two-page spreads, with awkward meter and inconsistent syllable counts from line to line and couplet to couplet. Bunny dialogue appears in word balloons; there are chewing sound effects as well. Therefore, the first reading feels a bit clumsy; caregivers may find that reading narrative, then dialogue, then sound effects works best.
Bouncer’s story is busy and slightly confusing, but it’s pleasant enough. (Board book. 18 mos.-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4654-6332-6
Page Count: 12
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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
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Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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