An ode to love and kisses for babies and toddlers, imported from Belgium and the Netherlands.
Big-headed, diaper-clad fuzzy animals populate this board book. Each has characteristics that mirror the brief text. “A kiss for you on the top of your head…” is paired with an orange crawling cat-baby with three distinct stripes on its head. The “baby” on the next spread with a pig’s ears, hooves, and substantial snout is ready to be kissed “on the tip of your nose.” Subsequent pages follow the same pattern, with a rhino’s rosy cheeks, elephant’s ears, giraffe’s neck, mouse’s fingers and toes, lamb’s belly, and puppy’s sleepy eyes all awaiting kisses while engaged in typical baby behaviors. Their facial expressions are all anticipation. Finally a big-eyed, bald White baby smiles at the words, “I kiss you, I kiss you, I kiss you…because I love you so much.” Sharing this with a tot will almost inevitably end in giggles, cuddles, and kisses. (The book does not take into account those babies who may not welcome such physical intimacy.) The large trim size and uncluttered layout help even the youngest babies focus on what is inevitably coming—more kisses. The pale palette of peach, beige, light brown, and white with contrasting baby-blanket patterns matches the gently playful tone.
A sweet reminder to cuddle and kiss throughout a baby’s day. (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-60537-560-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING
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Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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Hee haw.
30
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The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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