Corey’s workhorse of a text has been addressing separation anxiety for almost 35 years, first illustrated by Lois Axeman in 1976 and then by Diane Paterson in 1999. Now it has been re-illustrated again and packaged in board-book format. In Fox’s bright, cheery illustrations, a bevy of children of varying ethnicities watch their adults go away and come back while experimenting a little bit on their own. While it is certain that very young babies can begin to grasp object permanence, whether this book is the best way to reinforce it is another question. Will even young toddlers be able to decode the actions and emotions depicted in static images, however effectively illustrated? It’s still an important book, but best used with older toddlers, not babies, as the format seems to imply. (Board book. 2-3)
Pub Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8075-9440-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
An arbitrary listing of activities loosely connected by the concept of seasons, the book may be too wordy for toddlers and...
A multiethnic cast of characters is shown cheerfully engaged in seasonal activities.
Sharing the pattern of all the books in the Seasons series, this celebration of the coldest months starts “I know it’s winter when...” and then provides seasonal markers framed within a child's day. From the observation that “my toes are cold in the morning” through “snow fights” and warming bowls of soup to a warm snuggle at bedtime, activities depicted are fairly typical for snowy climates. Although the book is written in first person, no one child is consistently depicted, so readers are never quite sure who is speaking. The children shown are older than board-book readers, and there is more text than would be tolerated by many toddlers. This British import reveals some incongruities that may puzzle American readers. For example, though the narrator says that “It's time for snowsuits, big boots and funny hats,” there is no snow on the ground, and two travel trailers are in the background. In companion Summer, two children splash in an inflatable pool but seem overdressed in long-sleeved and long-legged play suits rather than swimsuits, and children pick blackberries in Fall instead of Summer.
An arbitrary listing of activities loosely connected by the concept of seasons, the book may be too wordy for toddlers and doesn’t provide enough substance to engage preschoolers. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-84643-745-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasant interactive outing.
Little Ted prepares for bed.
Ted, an anthropomorphic brown bear in red T-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers, recaps his day and gets ready for bed in this interactive board book. The narration encourages little readers to trace their fingers along a path carved through each double-page spread. The story begins outside as Ted is called in by his mother, continues through the kitchen, up the stairs, into a bath, and on to bed. The paths, created by gluing painted scenes with die-cut trails onto the board pages, are deep enough that little ones will be able to trace the way with ease and cover enough ground via squiggles and turns to make it worthwhile. Each scene is accompanied by an aabb quartet that guides readers. For example, “Ted races out into the hall / He runs so fast he almost falls. / With your finger take a lot of care / to help Ted reach the top of the stairs” accompanies a path that zigzags sharply up the stairs. The busy illustrations and bright colors won’t do much to lull a child to sleep, despite the bedtime theme. Companion title Animal Faces publishes concurrently and uses the same finger-tracing technique to draw emotions on animals, such as a frown face on a “sad pig” or a furrowed brow on a “worried bear.”
A pleasant interactive outing. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0267-2
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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