A pleasant seek-and-find outing for children who enjoy this format and an intriguing introduction to the concept for younger...
A little bear gets ready for a Christmas party by searching for 22 hidden items in this seek-and-find offering.
Bear needs lots of supplies for his party, especially decorations and sweet treats for his guests. The small, brown bear appears at the bottom of each spread with two or three lines of text per page describing his current search and inviting readers to participate. Bear looks for a horn at a Christmas market, an unwrapped box in a pile of presents, and a Christmas stocking in a messy mix-up of mittens. Decoration searches include a wreath hidden at a Christmas-tree lot, holly leaves secreted among green garlands, and a treetop star concealed in a field of foxes. All 22 special items appear in use at the concluding party scene, along with animal friends that have appeared within previous searches. Detailed illustrations in candy-bright colors offer cleverly concealed quests that require quite a bit of concentration to solve, and younger children may need assistance from caregivers to find all the items. A somewhat ungainly title and an overly busy cover design are not as appealing as the inside pages that depict Bear’s searches and party scene.
A pleasant seek-and-find outing for children who enjoy this format and an intriguing introduction to the concept for younger kids. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-257078-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Take strength from the dreamers before you and follow your dreams. Or maybe just roll the dice.
Is it a book about aspirations or the backstory for the board game?
Chickapig is defined as “an animal hybrid that is half-chicken and half-pig” and is depicted in yellow, two-legged chick shape with pink pig snout and ears. Young Joe Chickapig lives on a farm that was his grandfather’s dream, but it’s getting Joe down. He dreams of adventure but needs the “courage to follow his heart. / But how could he do it? How could he start?” In a bedtime story, Joe’s mother shares the influential characters that helped Joe’s sailor grandfather “follow his heart against the tide.” It seems that “Grandpa had heard a story told / Of a great big bear who broke the mold. / The bear was tired of striking fear”—so he became a forest doctor and a friend to all. And the bear’s inspiration? “A mouse who went to space.” The mouse, in turn, found hope in a “fierce young dragon” who joined a rock band. And coming full circle, the dragon found courage from a Chickapig warrior who “tired of shields and swords to wield” and established a farm. Chickapig game fans will appreciate this fanciful rhyming tale illustrated in attention-grabbing colors, but readers coming to it cold will note a distinct absence of plot. Mouse and dragon present female; all others are male.
Take strength from the dreamers before you and follow your dreams. Or maybe just roll the dice. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7944-4452-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Printers Row
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Full of humor and action, with easily recognizable emotions.
A nearly wordless graphic picture book illustrates the angst of a fledgling whose parent is determined to see it take its first flight.
The double-page spread encompassing the title page shows a small, comical bird sitting in a nest of twigs, dubiously eyeing a larger bird who flies above it with a facial expression of avian bliss. There follows a series of panels that show long-distance views of the larger bird gracefully landing in the nest occupied by, apparently, its progeny. The next double-page spread shows a single aerial view, with the little bird gazing far down to the earth. On the ensuing pages, the little bird exhibits high anxiety and clings to its parent with a large speech bubble that proclaims the titular “NOPE!” Over the course of the book, the little one—through pastel-tinged images in thought bubbles—imagines all the possible terrors it may encounter venturing from the nest, while its parent continues to encourage it to leave. There are occasional sound-effect words, such as “shake” and “flap,” and there is a full page of “no” in several different languages. Most of the story is told exclusively with the funny facial expressions and body language of two birds at cross purposes. The simple message is clear, and the humorous animals are foregrounded against pretty green and blue watercolor settings. Naturally, “nope” eventually changes to “yep.”
Full of humor and action, with easily recognizable emotions. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-99731-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
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