These pooches get a lot done in a day, and toddlers who follow along will effortlessly pick up some vocabulary to boot.
A ride through Richard Scarry territory with a canine cast.
Echoing Scarry’s larger-format panoramas, de Monfreid scatters nine doggy housemates over an encyclopedic series of scenes that are drawn in very simple cartoon style, decked out with identifying labels, and usually viewed from an elevated perspective. Between a morning “At Home” and a final “Night,” the dogs dress, go to town, to school, and the doctor’s; spend some time in the country on a farm; play games and sports in four seasons (on one double-page spread); stock up at the supermarket; and finally come back home for dinner and bedtime. Interspersed among these stops are encounters with the alphabet and numbers one to 11, plus galleries of land and sea creatures, fruits and vegetables, vehicles, and select occupations from “Vet” to “Cowgirl.” The dogs, all of assorted but mostly identifiable breeds, are indeterminate of age and, usually, sex. Aside from rare glimpses of a computer and a flat-screen TV, the world on display could be from Scarry’s era—except that (with a few slips: “Fisherman,” “Snowman”) the sexist language and ethnic stereotyping are absent.
These pooches get a lot done in a day, and toddlers who follow along will effortlessly pick up some vocabulary to boot. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-7765-7098-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Good for a giggle from preschool readers despite its slight imperfections.
A brightly illustrated story told in rhyme about mixed-up robots getting ready for the day.
Holub and Dickason team up for another title echoing the style of their similarly formatted Hello Knights! and Hello Ninjas! (both 2018). Here, the titular robots are having trouble getting ready for the day. They put socks on top of shoes and even forget how to eat their cereal, pouring milk on their heads and flipping their bowls upside down on the table. The confusion comes to a climax in a double gatefold in which the robots realize that they need a reboot, correcting their routines. Young readers will delight in the silliness: underpants on heads, bathing in clothes. Holub’s rhyming text works well for the most part and includes some charming turns of phrase, such as “brushing bolts” in place of brushing teeth. Dickason’s illustrations use a consistent palette of mostly primary colors and feature 1960s-style robots drawn with antennae, motherboards on boxy chests, and wheels for feet. The pages are busy and packed, allowing for new discoveries upon each read, though this busyness argues for use with older toddlers. It’s not entirely clear where the robots are headed (school?) or whether or not they’re also ETs (they fly away on a spaceship), but the story is fun enough to overlook those muddled details.
Good for a giggle from preschool readers despite its slight imperfections. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1871-4
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There is always room in the Easter basket for a counting book, and many readers may appreciate having another simple,...
A cheerful brown bunny hiding behind the edges of an Easter basket looks just as surprised as young children will be to find the chicks revealed as each egg “hatches.”
With help from a reading partner, young children are encouraged to count down the eggs as they disappear with each page turn. Alternatively, they can count up as the chicks are revealed. A simple phrase at the top of each right-hand page states the number of eggs in the basket. The line at the bottom (half of a rhyming couplet) tells how many chicks readers should look for. The numbers are spelled out, requiring young children to recognize the word instead of the more familiar numeral. On the left-hand page, the spaces previously occupied by an egg begin to fill with meadow plants and critters, eventually becoming a scene as busy and cheerful as a greeting card. This book begs to be touched. Each egg is made of shaped plastic that protrudes through die-cut holes on the verso; they can be pressed but seem to be securely anchored. The pastel chicks are lightly flocked, providing an additional tactile experience. Although the pages are thicker than paper, young fingers may find the holes a convenient way to grip (and possibly tear) the pages.
There is always room in the Easter basket for a counting book, and many readers may appreciate having another simple, nonreligious holiday book. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-74730-1
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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