A clever cast of avian characters conveys the meaning of several directional terms in this innovative lift-the-flap book that will appeal to babies and toddlers as well as children just beginning to read.
Long’s captivating illustrations use thick, black outlines and cartoon-style birds in bright shades of purple, green and orange. The book is divided into three short episodes that illustrate the concepts of tall/small, high/low and up/down. Each episode features three or more birds, with just a few words of dialogue in speech balloons using the simplest vocabulary. The bird groups each tell a tiny but complete story illustrating their concept, with birds flying up or floating up with balloons and, of course, coming back down again in various ways. A three-quarter-sized gatefold flap at the end of each episode lifts up to extend the story in some humorous way related to the tall/high/up concepts, with several unexpected twists and funny effects. Though the volume has a regular hard cover and medium trim size, the pages are printed on sturdy coated paper to facilitate the handling of the flap pages.
This is a book with much to offer to children, from tiny babies who will laugh at the funny birds through preschoolers who will get the clever jokes to 5- and 6-year-olds who might find this a very first read-alone. (Picture book/early reader. 1-6)Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-25611-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S POETRY
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Copious amounts of glitter and rainbows and a die-cut rainbow flower add a bit of interest to this celebration of the titular one-horned bunnies.
With simple, rhyming text and high-contrast, neon illustrations, this book is like cotton candy for the eyes and ears. Like that sugary confection, it’s sweet—arguably, too much so. “We’re going on a bunny hunt / to find the bunnycorns. / We follow trails of sparkle dust / and look for shiny horns! // We’ll find them in the places / where candy carrots grow. / I CAN SEE A BUNNYCORN! / Let’s go and say hello!” As the claims about the bunnycorns grow more extravagant, the artwork explodes in garish bursts of color. As for the aforementioned die-cut flower, it starts as a large cutout on the front cover of the book, becoming progressively smaller through each successive page, till it ends as a glittery, yellow single flower on the second-to-last double-page spread. In the denouement that follows, the narrative voice breaks the literary fourth wall: “If you believe in bunnycorns, / then they’ll believe in you. / ’Cause bunnycorns are special, / and baby, YOU are too!” The use of bunnies, of course, constitutes a radical departure from author McLean and illustrator Le Tandé’s 2019 opus, I Love My Llamacorn.
Cute, harmless, and unlikely to achieve classic status. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12643-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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