Preschoolers, you had your turn—now there’s a terrific Tullet for the toddlers, too!
Tullet brings his interactive fun to board-book format, complete with pleasingly tactile flaps, folds, and die-cuts.
This chunky and inviting work is filled with the same imaginative, out-of-the-box fun as the author/illustrator’s previous texts, but with paper engineering that creates additional layers of exploration. After opening on a tempting circular die-cut with directions to “enter here,” readers are invited to complete myriad tasks, including some familiar favorites. Tullet’s oft-seen hand motif appears, along with plenty of positive reinforcement (“Wow!”), prompts to “follow the line,” and encouragement to smudge paint or otherwise touch the page to effect change. The addition of flaps creates new opportunities for participation and open-ended play, making the format feel fresh. Tullet instructs readers to “find the prettiest dot”; turning over two flaps reveals a variety of cheerful circles—a chance to ponder and discuss. Other flaps, including a striped triangular fold-out, feel like interacting with a piece of modern art, especially given the book’s stylish primary-colored tones. Made from delightfully robust paper, the flaps are compelling and unexpected. A staircase-shaped flap begs to be traced by small fingers. A jarringly “poke-y” red flap has just the right amount of triangular bite. Two lengthy fold-outs present two dots on opposing sides of the page, with a dramatic amount of white space between them. Assembling these types of books can be fiddly, but Tullet’s pieces fall into place seamlessly.
Preschoolers, you had your turn—now there’s a terrific Tullet for the toddlers, too! (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9781797237817
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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