Here’s hoping sophisticated 4- and 5-year-olds, who sometimes feel too grown-up for board books, do not dismiss it and miss...
The king of interactive picture books (I Am Blop!, 2013, etc.) takes a sideways view of board books.
The cover holds a die-cut window giving readers a preview of what is to come. Once open, the page layout changes to a landscape orientation, and readers flip shaped pages for a wordless adventure through the sunny countryside. In Tullet’s cheerily colored, childlike cartoon style, the journey includes a visit to a small cluster of trees, an encounter with a happy couple out for stroll, a stop at a farmhouse and a view of a mountain range, ending with an ocean vista. When the book is flipped over, readers can retrace their steps, this time at night. It’s an enchanting, quietly instructive (if short) journey. It should be noted that a fine-print warning declaring it inappropriate for children under 36 months due to “small parts” (presumably mountain peaks and other die-cut elements detached by energetic use) appears on the back, but, fortunately, the construction and content of both books make them more appropriate for the over-3 set regardless.
Here’s hoping sophisticated 4- and 5-year-olds, who sometimes feel too grown-up for board books, do not dismiss it and miss out on the playful fun within. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7148-6074-9
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Phaidon
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale.
The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.
The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages.
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781665990646
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
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
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