That may be for the best; Linger too long in the app, and older kids might begin to wonder what happens to the tiger and...
A feel-good, cutesy animal tale with questionable rhymes and standard-fare features, this story of a curious tiger cub could have been called, "Meat, Play, Love."
The little tiger cub (who has no name) decides to hunt for food when his Mummy hurts her paw. He meets a fearsome crocodile with huge teeth, a long, coiled snake, an elephant and a giraffe, all of which he decides he probably shouldn't attack using his "Hide, run, growl" strategy. When he meets a young bunny, the two play instead of fight, and the bunny rewards the friendship with some fish abandoned by a bear. The illustrations throughout are harmlessly cuddly, with thick, defined lines and friendly curves. Even the crocodile's teeth don't seem too deadly. The awkward, rhyming couplets, spoken by a British-accented narrator, stretch the bounds; "Paw" rhymes with "more," and "path" is flagrantly paired with "giraffe." Animation throughout is subtle, but limited; words are spoken aloud when readers touch objects like "tiger cub" and "sky," but except for a puzzle and matching game outside the main story, that's about as interactive as the tiger cub's app gets.
That may be for the best; Linger too long in the app, and older kids might begin to wonder what happens to the tiger and bunny's friendship once the two get a little older. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Kid-Estorybooks
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
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
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