While this will be a wildly appealing baby-shower gift, it’s as a color concept book that the pieces really come together.
Stylish matryoshka nesting dolls describe the concept of generations.
It’s a lovely conceit. Nesting dolls fit together much as an intergenerational family does. “My father’s father’s father’s father’s dad saw the birth of… / my father’s great-great-grandfather,” and the text continues to follow the lineage to the parent addressing his “very own child.” Companion title From Mother to Mother focuses on matrilineal heritage. Set on a tall, narrow trim, successive nesting dolls become smaller as the book progresses, until it reaches the last page’s diminutive child figurine. Black-outlined bodies on clean white backgrounds are accented by a single vivid color. Patterns on the figures are intricate, with crisply lined flora and fauna twisting around each other to create symmetrical, balanced compositions. The blue father doll features elegant, solid-colored lilies, blueberries, and a dragonfly, each with the barest amount of detailing. Sections of colored text match the accent color from the previous page, creating a further tie across generations. It’s all pleasingly harmonious. But as a read-aloud, it founders with its many recitations of family history, and it’s unlikely the intended audience will grasp such an abstract concept. It isn’t clear from the identical faces that these are descendants, and only a tiny missing moustache demarcates the ultimate child.
While this will be a wildly appealing baby-shower gift, it’s as a color concept book that the pieces really come together. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58089-814-0
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Peek, and you’ll find a rollicking romp here.
The favorite game of toddlers gets a dino twist.
A large dinosaur tries to outsmart a smaller companion when the duo play peekaboo together. The big dino naïvely believes they won’t be noticed behind or under sundry hiding places, but the little pal always finds their playmate. Young listeners will giggle as the large dino attempts to outwit the little one, but in vain; in every instance, the diminutive, overalls-clad dino calls out a triumphant “Peekaboo!” How come? Is it because thin tree trunks and a potted plant can’t conceal the large dino’s frame? Do the big dino’s bold, flower-print shirts stick out a mile? Even when the large dinosaur attempts an aerial hiding place, they discover that ruse doesn’t, ahem, fly, nor does hiding in a crowd wearing a Where’s Waldo?–esque red-striped cap and T-shirt do any good. In a display of good sportsmanship, the big dino concedes at the end the game was fun. The youngest audiences, all of whom will have likely engaged in marathon peekaboo sessions themselves, will undoubtedly scramble to play again. Besides stimulating playtime, this adorable board book, expressed in lilting rhymes, boosts vocabulary development through the use of some common prepositions (behind, in) and adverbs (here, there, everywhere). The illustrations are sweetly engaging; the round cutout on the front cover invites youngsters to play peekaboo games with adult partners and others. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Peek, and you’ll find a rollicking romp here. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66592-840-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on...
An exploration of the human body through colorful photos.
Every other double-page spread labels the individual parts on one major area: head, torso, back, arm and leg. Ethnically diverse boy-girl pairs serve as models as arrows point to specific features and captions float nearby. While the book usefully mentions rarely depicted body parts, such as eyebrow, armpit and shin, some of the directional arrows are unclear. The arrow pointing at a girl’s shoulder hits her in the upper arm, and the belly button is hard is distinguish from the stomach (both are concealed by shirts). Facts about the human body (“Guess what? You have tiny hairs in your nose that keep out dirt”) appear on alternating spreads along with photos of kids in action. Baby Animals, another title in the Look & Learn series, uses an identical format to introduce readers to seal pups, leopard cubs, elephant calves, ducklings and tadpoles. In both titles, the final spread offers a review of the information and encourages readers to match baby animals to their parents or find body parts on a photo of kids jumping on a trampoline.
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on the right track despite earlier titles that were much too conceptual for the audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1483-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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