Consider these sturdy board books training titles for Walter Wick's more densely packed I Spy titles.
A topsy-turvy tumble of brightly colored iconic images on a clean white background is accompanied by the invitation, “What can you spot? What do you see?”
Double-page spreads show vehicles found in a town, flying, on water, at a racetrack, and in space, as well as construction, emergency, and farm equipment. This is not a book for beginners. The 30-35 vehicles in each grouping are displayed upside down, sideways, or at angles, adding challenge to the game. Outlines of most vehicles included on each spread are shown in a band of color along the bottom of the page as a sort of visual glossary. On some pages, this band of color is dark enough to make the text difficult to read. Extraneous figures to fill in white space (oars and anchors on the watercraft spread) and the inclusion of some vehicles not hinted at on the bottom (a train on the town page) further clutter the pages and increase the complexity of the task. Finding the tiny hidden lion on each page will be beyond the ability of many toddlers and will test the patience of older siblings and parents. In the companion title, In the Wild, finding the toucan is even more difficult.
Consider these sturdy board books training titles for Walter Wick's more densely packed I Spy titles. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0056-2
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale.
The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.
The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages.
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781665990646
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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