MOTHER GOOSE ORIGINAL I

Name: MOTHER GOOSE ORIGINAL I
Author: Frederick Richardson

illustrated by Frederick Richardson developed by Our House Interactive ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 5, 2011

Viewers can see rhymes from The Original Mother Goose online for free at oldpicturebooks.com and decide for themselves...

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Mother Goose rhymes paired with vintage illustrations lose something in translation to an interactive format.

There’s something magical about opening an early 20th-century Volland edition of fairy tales or nursery rhymes illustrated by Richardson. The elegant, old-fashioned drawings are meticulously outlined in pen and feature a pleasing palette of colors and beautiful rural landscapes. The Original Mother Goose is a stunning classic that warrants a careful touch when converting to a new platform. Unfortunately, this particular app’s enhancements feel clumsy, out of place and sometimes jarring set against the gorgeous illustrations. Some of the pages work better than others, such as the "Dickery Dickery Dock" page, where viewers can move the clock’s hands, and the "Old King Cole" page, where the violins produce lovely sounds. Others are less successful. The front of the dog detaches disconcertingly from his back end in "Old Mother Hubbard," and Little Boy Blue's snore is more laughable than believable. The narration is a bit shrill, and the sound quality is tinny. Navigation is abetted by a pull-down bookmark in the upper corner of the pages that brings viewers back to a menu from which they can choose any of the 13 rhymes, but page turns are very slow.

Viewers can see rhymes from The Original Mother Goose online for free at oldpicturebooks.com and decide for themselves whether a simple, amateur reading at home can create more magic than this app. (iPad storybook app. 2-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Our House Interactive

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S CHRISTMAS

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2014

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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HOW TO CATCH SANTA CLAUS

From the How To Catch… series

by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2023

Cookie-cutter predictability.

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After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?

Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)