Preschoolers who are just beginning to understand the game of hide-and-seek will find this irresistible.
A gray rabbit plays hide-and-seek with his forest friends in this delightfully illustrated, simple story with a bouncy, rhyming text.
Surrounded by delicate flowers, Bunny stares out from the cover illustration with a transfixed expression, foreshadowing his difficulty in playing the game effectively. As his friends hide, Bunny counts to 10, slyly peeking out from behind his paws. A little mole pops up to help Bunny, trying to point out the hiding characters during the ensuing search, but Bunny is so excited to be playing the game that he bounds right past the hiding places. Finally, Bunny slumps down under a tree, dejected—but on the final, joyous spread, the animal friends all jump out shouting, “PEEK-A-BOO!” Vibrant illustrations in mixed media and collage use stylized shapes for the animals against juicy lime and lavender backgrounds that burst with flowers, leaves and trees. The wildflowers and grasses often stretch across the foreground of a full spread in an impressionistic blur, complemented by delicate leaves that hang from the overarching boughs, together framing the animal action in a distinctive, theatrical way.
Preschoolers who are just beginning to understand the game of hide-and-seek will find this irresistible. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-224265-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The visual details invite interaction, making it a good choice for storytime or solo inspection.
It’s a quiet day, until….
“I have a bot!” An excited child’s happiness is short-lived, for the remote-controlled toy escapes its wireless tether and begins an ascent up the side of a skyscraper. The building’s doorman launches a race to recover the bot, and soon everyone wants to help. Attempts to retrieve the bot, which is rendered as a red rectangle with a propeller, arms, and a rudimentary face, go from the mundanity of a broom to the absurd—a bright orange beehive hairdo and a person-sized Venus’ flytrap are just some of the silly implements the building’s occupants use to try to rein in the bot. Each double-page spread reveals another level of the building—and further visual hijinks—as the bot makes its way to the top, where an unexpected hero waits (keep an eye out for falling bananas). The tall, narrow trim size echoes the shape of the skyscraper, providing a sense of height as the bot rises. Text is minimal; short declarations in tidy black dialogue bubbles with white courier-style typeface leave the primary-colored, blocky art to effectively carry the story. Facial expressions—both human and bot—are comically spot-on. The bot-owning child has light skin, and there are several people of color among those trying to rescue the bot. One person wears a kufi.
The visual details invite interaction, making it a good choice for storytime or solo inspection. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: July 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-425-28881-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
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