by Hans Wilhelm ; illustrated by Erica Salcedo ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2019
A lovely celebration of the simple joys of childhood.
Three active piglets do everything little children love to do.
This board book charms before the first page is turned, as the three titular pigs snooze peacefully on the cover beneath a cardboard “blanket” that wraps around both book and pigs, held snug by two magnets. What follows is a full and active day in the lives of the piggies, told in paired scenes with rhyming text. “Pigs in a blanket wake up with the sun. / Pigs in underwear love to have fun.” The pigs appear to be siblings, rising together, going through their day, and retiring once again to their shared bed and blanket. Their genders aren’t specified in the text; in Salcedo’s delicate cartoons they appear to be two boys, sans hair, and one girl, with a sweet smile and pigtails. The three play together all day, racing, stomping in puddles, playing dress-up, dancing in tutus, baking pies, putting on a puppet show, and then washing up, brushing teeth, and tucking themselves back in to their cozy bed and blanket. The illustrations are delightfully playful and energetic. The piglets’ day of play is so archetypal of an active child’s routine readers easily forget the porcine nature of the protagonists, their snouts and twirly tails being the only reminders. These pigs are Everykid, playing hard, winding down, and sleeping peacefully so they can do it again tomorrow.
A lovely celebration of the simple joys of childhood. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: March 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6451-9
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
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by Christopher Silas Neal ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2018
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
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