by Fran Manushkin ; illustrated by Purificacion Herandez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2017
Sweet and satisfying.
Panda sisters Amanda and Miranda enjoy playing, watching other animals, and chewing on bamboo.
The pint-sized cubs live at the zoo with their Mama. Throughout the day, they observe what the other animals eat. Though curious, they are picky! “Pewwww!” is the repeated refrain as they scrutinize their neighbors’ meals. They prefer bamboo, which they jubilantly share for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Like all toddler siblings, Amanda and Miranda spend the day playing…and arguing. When some gentle pushing gets slightly out of hand, the cubs decide to play alone, each ultimately realizing she is lonely without her sister. The rhyming text and repeated, predictable negative judgment of all foods nonbamboo help to tie the storylines together, creating a gleeful picture of the persnickety pandas’ daily routine. The consistent rhythm pattern and use of words that rhyme with “bamboo” result in a narrative that is delightful to read aloud. Bright and charming full-page illustrations show a romantic version of zoo life. The animals are all happy, living in quarters partitioned off by small barriers and full of natural materials to lounge on and explore. There are no cages and no humans. This idealized setting may be unrealistic, but it serves the overall tone of the story well.
Sweet and satisfying. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5063-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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SEEN & HEARD
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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