As undeniably charming as a child’s beloved stuffie.
Counting one to 10 with stuffed animals.
This board book opens with the question “How many stuffies do you have?” From just one for Duck to 10 for a child named Tim, there’s no wrong number. Van Genechten’s illustrations feature mostly animal characters with their stuffies. Each layout includes a small chalkboard with the corresponding numeral. All of the animals and their cuddly friends are drawn in soft colors with fuzzy edges, adding to the snuggly feel of the book. The stuffed pals are chosen as specific fits for their owners, sometimes with a wink to readers. Duck, for example, has just one stuffie, but it’s almost too large for the little bird to carry. Penguin lines up a row of seven tiny snowmen, while the tallest animal (Giraffe) totes along eight of the smallest (mice). A sweet end to the book shows Tim, who has light brown skin and textured short black hair, in bed with 10 stuffies, the very same animals towing along their own loveys on the previous pages. This is a sweet read-aloud for introducing numbers and counting to a lapsitting child. The simple, large illustrations and anthropomorphized animals are appealing. While there is nothing groundbreaking here, it’s still instructive and enjoyable. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
As undeniably charming as a child’s beloved stuffie. (Board book. 0-2)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-60537-746-9
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
A reassuring riff on embracing imperfections.
A young rabbit frets about her upcoming violin performance in Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey’s literary debut.
Mei Mei’s dream—“to share her music with the world”—is about to come true. She’s having her very first recital, complete with an orchestra, at the H’Opera House. But the day before the concert, Mei Mei is racked with anxiety. What if she plays a bum note in front of everyone? Sure enough, the worst happens mid-performance: She hits a clinker. But by remembering her mom’s reassuring sentiments from the night before (“Feel the wind…find the notes to make it right”), Mei Mei summons the strength to soldier on, and “wrong notes become right. Dissonance becomes beautiful.” At times, it all feels more like a resilience parable than a story, and the writing can be precious (“The flutter of butterflies wakes Mei Mei from her slumber”). Still, the message is solid, bolstered by O’Hara’s pencil and watercolor illustrations, which are plush-toy soft—fitting, as even prior to this book’s publication, a stuffed Mei Mei has been for sale at Grammy winner Laufey’s website. The tale features an all-animal, all-adorable cast, and endearingly, the art betrays no hint of modern times. A standout image presents Mei Mei onstage, temporarily incapacitated by her mistake and imagining her fellow musicians and their instruments with the color-blasted menace of an expressionist painting.
A reassuring riff on embracing imperfections. (author’s note, glossary) (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9798217051748
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
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
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