TEN GIGGLY GORILLAS

Name: TEN GIGGLY GORILLAS
Author: Graham Nunn

by Graham Nunn & illustrated by Graham Nunn & developed by Wasabi Productions ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 19, 2012

This enjoyable rhyming-pattern book reinforces simple counting concepts—if only the titular characters looked like gorillas.

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Clever and packed with interactivity, this app entertains but also confuses, as the star characters look an awful lot more like silly monkeys than giggly gorillas.

Beginning with 10 playful gorillas hanging high in the treetops of a generic jungle, readers are challenged to “tickle” the specific gorilla mentioned in that screen’s text. The featured gorilla is easily identified through clues in the text and by the various and funky objects they hold or wear, such as flippers, a bow tie or a drum. Once the correct gorilla is tapped/tickled, it plummets or, in some cases, swan dives to the jungle floor, leaving the group of gorillas down one. This pattern repeats until there are no gorillas left dangling. The rhyming and repetitive text mostly works, but stretches thin in a few places, although the cheerful female Australian narrator makes most rhymes work with a natural ease. Readers can also choose to narrate on their own with or without sound effects, although these noises, which are invoked by tapping any of the gorillas, add a humorous chaos to the text. Hidden within each page is a colorful toucan, which greets readers when tapped. Extra features include a gorilla memory game.

This enjoyable rhyming-pattern book reinforces simple counting concepts—if only the titular characters looked like gorillas. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)

Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2012

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Wasabi Productions

Review Posted Online: March 4, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012

- BOOK REVIEW
LOST LARRY
by Graham Nunn & illustrated by Graham Nunn & developed by Wasabi Productions

- BOOK REVIEW
LAZY LARRY LIZARD
by Graham Nunn & illustrated by Kim Neale & developed by Wasabi Productions

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

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.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
CON POLLO
by Jimmy Fallon & Jennifer Lopez ; illustrated by Andrea Campos

- SEEN & HEARD
Jimmy Fallon Christmas Book Coming This Fall

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NOISY DINOSAURS

From the My First Touch and Feel Sound Book series

by Jonathan Litton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2015

Young dino fans will enjoy it, though their grown-ups may not.

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What sounds did dinosaurs make? We don't really know.

Litton suggests some possibilities while introducing sophisticated vocabulary in a board-book format. Five dinosaurs are featured: Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, Diplodocus, and Triceratops. For each species there is a brief description that highlights its distinctive features, followed by an invitation to hear and repeat the dinosaur's sound. There is no explanation for why scientists think T. Rex “roared,” Stegosaurus “howled,” Pterodactyl “screeched,” Diplodocus “growled,” or Triceratops “grunted.” The author tries to avoid sexism, carefully referring to two of the creatures as “she,” but those two are also described in stereotypically less-ferocious terms than the male dinos. The touch point on the Pterodactyl is a soft section of wing. Readers are told that Diplodocus “loved splashing in swamps,” and the instruction is to “tickle her tummy to hear her growl,” implying that this giant creature was gentle and friendly. None of this may matter to young paleontologists, who will enjoy finding the tactile section on each creature that triggers the sound. Despite extensive directions in small print, most parents and libraries won't bother to change the battery secured by a tiny hex screw, but while the battery lasts, the book will get lots of play.