Stellar fun for any astronaut-to-be.
Entertainment for tots that’s visually and conceptually out of this world.
“They’re here…” and they’re babies! That’s the message from this delightful bedtime diversion. A classically bug-eyed ET and their otherworldly friends charm and amuse in this small, sturdy exploration of the paranormal for toddlers. Eye-catching artwork evokes the great science-fiction and fantasy pulp art of yesteryear, only with playful, toddler-sized creatures with big grins and a sense of adventure. The text is a series of rhymed couplets presented over bright and dazzling double-page spreads. Each vignette poses a question on the first page that is answered by opening a well-secured but mercifully easy-to-open flap on recto: “Who’s zipping past in a flash of light?” Opening the flap reveals the answer: “It’s Alien Baby taking flight!” The die-cut flaps won’t tear easily, and little fingers can grab and open each one with ease thanks to the unusual thickness of the pages and the generous amount of space between the edge of each flap and the rest of the page upon which it resides. UFOlogists will recognize Alien Baby as a “Roswell Gray.” The supporting cast includes a “space baboon,” a robot, a “lizard man,” two startled human astronauts (one brown skinned and one pale), and two adoring parents to tuck Alien Baby in to a whispered “night, night!” Companion title Bigfoot Baby! is earthbound and equally charming.
Stellar fun for any astronaut-to-be. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-948931-09-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Hazy Dell Press
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
The story is hasty, but its sentiments are sweet.
Can Little Dragon get used to the idea of becoming a big brother?
Little Dragon is ambivalent at best when his parents show him their egg and announce that there’s a new baby on the way. “He was definitely not in the mood for company right now,” reads the text on a page that includes artistic Little Dragon’s drawings of his family, which hang on the wall beside a sign with the words “My Room.” His solution is first to cover the egg, which is as big as he is, with blankets. Unsatisfied, he then paints a face on the egg, though it’s unclear why he has this impulse since the picture makes the egg more conspicuous. The drawing also displeases his mother, who brings him a bucket of soapy water and a washcloth. Contrite, Little Dragon scrubs the egg until he hears a loud “CRAAACK.” Lo and behold, not one but two baby dragons emerge from the egg. On seeing how cute they are, Little Dragon has an immediate change of heart and embraces his new siblings. On the final page one baby displays some of its big brother’s artistic sensibility in a humorous twist, and Little Dragon crosses out the word “My” on the sign in his room and replaces it with “OUR.” All the dragons have the same green-and-white coloration and spike patterns, indicating a homogeneous family. As an aspirational title for expectant big siblings, this tale is adequate, but its underdeveloped emotional arc begs unfavorable comparison to such subgenre classics as Julius, the Baby of the World.
The story is hasty, but its sentiments are sweet. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5107-1268-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
What better way to deal with baby monsters than to tuck them safely into bed? Little monsters will try to put off the...
A board book for older toddlers who like pretending to be just a little bit scared.
Young children will recognize themselves and their bedtime routines in the four-line rhymes that appear on verso, describing spread by spread eight monsters that they may soon meet in more menacing contexts. On the facing page, graphically designed toddler versions of each monster exhibit their defining characteristics. A square-headed “Frankenbaby” with bolts in his neck wears training pants, while a green zombie baby in a high chair has taken a bite out of the head of a gingerbread boy. An equally green adult zombie proffers a sippy cup. Similarly, a vampire girl hanging upside down from a shower-curtain rod is offered a pink toothbrush for her fangs. A small mummy brings a pile of books on outstretched arms to mama mummy for a “bed-tomb story.” “Loch Nessie,” “wolfboy,” “little Bigfoot,” and a pair of purple “gleeful goblins” round out the cast. The final pages show all the monsters in silhouette under a full yellow moon as they march off to bed in a backyard tent.
What better way to deal with baby monsters than to tuck them safely into bed? Little monsters will try to put off the inevitable bedtime with the demand, “read it again.” (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: June 26, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-10559-9
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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