Not much by way of text, but the high-appeal photographs and downright cuteness of the dogs make this entertaining overall.
Photographs of dogs accompany descriptions of their actions, moods, and appearance.
This board book reads like a coffee-table book of dog portraits for babies and toddlers. Each page features another gorgeous photograph of an adorable dog with a short descriptor: “spotted dog,” “dirty dog,” and “shy dog,” to name a few. The photographs truly stand out, as the dog itself is shown against either a distance-dappled natural background or a starkly contrasting color without any other images or distractions. Readers won’t be able to help but grin right back at the contagious smile of “happy dog” or the little furball that is “fluffy dog.” While by and large the photographs do accurately depict the text, the character descriptions could be confusing for the intended audience of young readers. For example, the “curious dog,” despite its cocked head, appears sad, with droopy jowls and sorrowful eyes. The “shy dog” could equally be interpreted as feeling blue. The companion board book Cats & Dogs features the same gorgeous, “aww”-inducing photography with similar short descriptors. While there isn’t much difference in the cat-and-dog relationships featured on the “silly friends” and “happy friends” pages, the unbelievably adorable kitten and puppy on “tiny friends” certainly make up for it.
Not much by way of text, but the high-appeal photographs and downright cuteness of the dogs make this entertaining overall. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4867-1581-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Flowerpot Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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