Subtly packaged anti-bullying and group empowerment for small fry.
How can little fish avoid being eaten by bigger fish?
The opening double-page spread shows a pretty underwater scene rendered using what appears to be watercolor resist technique. On the verso, a large, round fish stares at a tiny clown fish on the recto and comments “Oh, look! That’s a perfect little snack for me.” The big fish looks friendly and the little one’s face lacks affect, so adults reading the book aloud to children will have to decide how sinister of a tone to adopt. A graduated series of die-cut holes in the center of each double spread means that each page turn adds layer upon layer to the visual narrative. As the story progresses, increasingly larger, open-mouthed fish appear, poised to eat the one before across the gutter, while the tiny, still expressionless clown fish hovers between them. After the opening sentence, the text takes the form of a simple refrain with a new adjective substituted on each page: “Oh no…that’s a huge fish!” and “oh no…that’s a gigantic fish!” and so on. The penultimate spread, showing a band of small clown fish coming to the aid of their beleaguered buddy, imitates a visual metaphor frequently used on grassroots-organizing posters to express the idea of unity in strength. The concluding text appropriately reinforces the message. The colorful, alluring artwork somewhat undermines the narrative by endowing each large fish with beauty and personality—despite the menacing eyes—while the tiny clown fish shows no emotion until the final page. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Subtly packaged anti-bullying and group empowerment for small fry. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-6626-5055-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
A comforting celebration of everyday courage with lots of charm to boot.
This upbeat ode to conquering fears will resonate with tots both timid and not.
The sparse text of this sturdy board book is a series of three quatrains, presented one brief line per spread, describing the various fears a little boy has overcome: “I was scared of big dogs. / Then I made a new friend. // I was scared of the water. / Now I love the deep end.” Having also conquered fears of the dark, loud horns and goodbyes, he proclaims on the final pages: “I’m not scared like before. / I am so brave!” The skillful verses read smoothly and depict situations that toddlers and preschoolers will relate to. The illustrations center around a wide-eyed African-American child as the main character, with Caucasian children also populating some of the scenes, including the final spread, which features the narrator leaping boldly into a pit of colored balls. The design and color scheme, mostly bright blues, yellows and reds, give the title a distinctly vintage feel, which will lend it appeal to both adults and children.
A comforting celebration of everyday courage with lots of charm to boot. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0937-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
This multiethnic title is not memorable enough to become a bedtime favorite.
This third title in the New Books for Newborns series features multiethnic dads getting their infants ready for bed.
Each double-page spread shows a different child with their male parent engaged in bedtime rituals. Four lines of rhyming text, each time starting with the same first line, point out nighttime objects. “Hush a bye, my baby. / Can you hear the owl call? / Time to close your eyes gently / as night starts to fall.” The text is for the most part simple and uses familiar vocabulary, but sometimes scansion falters. Although the hair and skin colors in this book range from pale to rich brown, most of the dad-and-child pairs seem to be racially similar, and no distinctly biracial child is depicted. Illustrations in a soothing pastel palette show a fair-skinned, red-haired dad carrying a tired, fair-skinned, brown-haired baby up the stairs; a dad with brown skin and brown hair holds a similar-looking baby wrapped in a towel; and a dad and child with dark hair and dark skin rock together in a chair, reading a book. Most of the dads are shown to be affectionate but not interactive with their infants. This series is meant for newborns, but the fine-lined, busy, and sometimes conceptually abstract illustrations may be more suitable for toddlers or even young preschoolers.
This multiethnic title is not memorable enough to become a bedtime favorite. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0139-6
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
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