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WHAT WILL WE CHOOSE?

Name: WHAT WILL WE CHOOSE?
Author: Elly van der Linden
ISBN: 978-1-60537-287-7

From the Larry and Lola series

by Elly van der Linden ; illustrated by Suzanne Diederen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

Toddlers are better served by actual conversations.

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This guessing game book has almost too many choices for young children.

Each left-hand page begins, “We are Larry and Lola!” before introducing a common preschool activity—getting dressed, eating, playing house or in the sandbox, taking a bath, going to bed—along with items used for that activity. The facing page asks questions about the activity and invites readers to imagine what they might choose. Then a gatefold opens to show the cartoonish bunny and kitty engaged in the activity. Again, questions are provided to encourage readers to notice the choices made by Larry and Lola. This sequence always ends with “What did we leave behind?” and, almost as an afterthought, the question “And what is Mikey the mouse doing?” (Mikey clowns around, adding a seek-and-find element.) Although the title suggests that readers can choose, the implication is that Larry and Lola's choices are the correct answers. Although the paper is coated, the full-page gatefolds are not likely to survive much manipulation. This well-intentioned effort to help parents expand their children's vocabularies is not active enough to fully engage young children. It tries to do too much—language development, introducing everyday activities, a seek-and-find game, complicated page turns—and doesn't do any of them particularly well.

Toddlers are better served by actual conversations. (Picture book. 2-4)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-60537-287-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clavis

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

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ANIMAL SHAPES

by Christopher Silas Neal ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2018

Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.

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You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!

What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?

Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: March 27, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Little Bee Books

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
UNDER ONE ROOF
by Miranda Paul & Baptiste Paul ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

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OVER AND UNDER THE CORAL REEF
by Kate Messner ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

- BOOK REVIEW
WE LEAP TOGETHER
by Christopher Silas Neal ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

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HELLO ROBOTS!

From the Hello…! series

by Joan Holub ; illustrated by Chris Dickason ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 22, 2019

Good for a giggle from preschool readers despite its slight imperfections.

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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)