An enjoyable trip to the zoo? Readers would be better off going in person or exploring the many other options available in...
A customizable child goes to the zoo with his or her father.
As young readers open this app, they are asked to choose the name and gender of the main character and to choose an avatar (happily, a number of skin colors and ethnicities are provided, though none has explicitly Asian features). The story then uses this name and adjusts the illustrations to match. While this is nifty at first, it does not make up for the lackluster storytelling or interactive features. Some suspense is injected into the basic trip-to-the-zoo storyline when the main character hides in the zookeeper’s food cart, but essentially, this app is created to teach readers about different animals’ diets and habitats. The app does not provide any narration or touch-activated animated interactions. On each screen, readers may tap a star to learn more facts about the zoo animals, take simple quizzes about animals’ diets and sometimes hear recordings of animal sounds. The digital artwork is colorful but on the cold side, with only a few facial details. From the main screen, users can play more games—matching facts from the story to particular animals, the “feed the animals” quizzes from the story and a simple coloring game.
An enjoyable trip to the zoo? Readers would be better off going in person or exploring the many other options available in both print and tablet formats. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: ConsumerSoft
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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