Lovely illustrations accompany this quaint, toddler-friendly intro to French culture and language.
A day in the life of Bébé and Doudou in France.
This board book opens on a busy day when Bébé wakes up. From there, it’s on to breakfast, a walk, and a trip to the park, among other activities. Each page features a different child and their lovey (doudou) along with a sprinkle of French and accompanying helpful phonetic spellings. Words and phrases like bonjour, bon appétit, and bonne nuit are woven into the text in such a way that non-native speakers can manage them. The phonetic spellings encourage correct pronunciation and familiarize little readers with new words. The book concludes with a section called “A Day in France,” which translates all of the French from the text into English. While this is certainly helpful, readers may wish it had come earlier, as it takes some time for context clues to kick in on the word doudou unless readers are previously familiar. Carpentier’s illustrations are bold and striking, depicting rich textures in, for instance, people’s hair or orange peels on a table. Characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Lovely illustrations accompany this quaint, toddler-friendly intro to French culture and language. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64686-718-9
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
These latest adventures of the Bloodhound Gang (from public TV's 3-2-1 Contact) have a little more zip than the dismally perfunctory lust two (p. 800, J-186), but there is still little evidence of the Fleischman wit, inventiveness, and high spirits. And of course the idea of three kids investigating for an insurance company is too far-fetched for any nine-year-old's reality meter. But that's the situation in The Case of the Flying Clock, when Vikki, Ricardo, and Zach check out the theft of a snobbish horologist's flying pendulum clock. "Once belonged to Louis," says pompous Mr. Keefe—Louis XVI, that is. But because they know that steam will fog a mirror and salty water makes objects more buoyant, the Gang deduces that Mr. Keefe did not see a red-haired robber, as he claimed, but instead dumped his plastic-wrapped clock in his wishing-well pending future removal. The Case of the Secret Message brings the Bloodhounds up against a purse snatcher, a smuggler called Mr. Big, his bodyguard Muscles, and a little old lady who seems first a victim, then a cohort, and at last reveals herself as a young policewoman. Perhaps the point of the series is that the TV tie-in will lead habitual viewers to print. In any case, these belong with the merchandise mysteries.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1981
ISBN: 0394847652
Page Count: 68
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1981
A quiet depiction of self-reliant slumber.
An evening routine provides stability for two smiling siblings.
The pair bathe together in the tub. Drying off with towels, they put on pajamas and share a nighttime story with their favorite stuffed animals before they pull the covers up over their noses. The tale highlights the interactions between sister and brother, exuding coziness as they finally relax. There's no adult physically depicted in the pictures, even when the two splash puddles of water on the floor. An adult presence is indicated in the lulling narration, though: “Snuggle the covers / and off with the light, // Dream little dreams, // I love you, good night.” The youngsters demonstrate tremendous independence; they scrub themselves clean and open wide to brush their teeth. The clean layout provides, appropriately, few details; stitched hearts float in the background near their beds in a symbolic departure from the realism otherwise portrayed. The padded cover adds extra softness.
A quiet depiction of self-reliant slumber. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-39215-0
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
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