This diminutive board book presents the delights to be found at a fair.
Tiny in both size and number of pages—just five double-page spreads—this will fit wee hands easily and will be easy to manipulate. The thick die-cut pages stack from smallest to largest, each page die cut to resemble the object it represents: a merry-go-round on recto and popcorn truck on its verso; an old fashioned train; a roller coaster; bumper cars; swings; assorted carnival games, and finally a Ferris wheel. While the saturated colors of the illustrations and the tactile book format will be appealing to the littlest readers, the limited, unattributed text is uninspired and flat: “Welcome to the fun fair! / Where the roller coaster goes up then down. / The bumper cars spin and zoom. / The swings swish and twirl. / And the Ferris wheel goes round and round. There’s so much fun to be had at the fair!” It’s a pity the text can’t rise to the level of excitement it promises fairgoers. The colorful and stylized illustrations portray a large number of people—equally divided between bright-pink and brown skin tones.
Little hands will enjoy holding this small, chunky book; adult readers can supply their own text. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7493-8
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
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It's not the first time dinosaurs have been featured in a clever Boynton board book. It seems she—and we—can't get enough.
As her fans know, Boynton has a sly wit that respects the intelligence of her young fans and amuses the adults asked to “read it again.” In this book she introduces nine dinosaurs, each of which dances in a way that seems totally appropriate for that particular species. “The blue Stegosaurus goes SHIMMY SHIMMY SHAKE. / The red Brontosaurus goes QUIVERY QUAKE.” Drawing on her experience as a children’s musician, she writes a text that trips along like a song with rhymes that make sense but don't intrude. The illustrations, typical Boynton, reflect her greeting-card background. They are cartoonish but manage to capture the unique personality of each creature. The unnamed dinosaur narrator looks genuinely distraught at not being able to name the “tiny little dino” that “goes DEEDLY DEE.” Spoiler alert: the tiny little dinosaur is probably Compsognathus and would be about the size of a small chicken. Young dinophiles would be impressed if the dinosaurologists in their lives could supply that factoid, but alas, they will have to look it up.
This will have readers putting on their dancing shoes to do the “cha cha cha” with their dino-babies . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8099-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Leo is back (Leo Loves Baby Time, 2014, etc.), and now he happily attends a community swim class with Daddy.
“Leo loves the water. He is like a little fish!” A smiling Leo is in sudsy bath water, his dark, curly head and brown body held up by a pair of strong, brown, adult arms. As the story continues, readers see Leo and Daddy interact lovingly throughout, from sitting together on a big chair—viewing a swim-class brochure—to changing into proper swim attire in the locker room and taking part in a class that features a pool full of other happy baby-and-adult pairs. The range of skin and hair types is commendable, even including one adult-child combination of nonmatching skin. Getting used to the off-center noses of the babies requires a little time—probably more for adults than children. The text has some sentences that will sound delightful to little ears as little eyes view the water babies: “They swish and swoosh. They splish and sploosh.” The tender and competent care given to Leo by his father is reason enough to praise this book. Also, like its predecessor, the codex itself has rounded corners and strong, resilient paper to accommodate its audience. The ending is a bit abrupt, but it parallels babies’ and toddlers’ tendencies to play hard and suddenly run out of energy.
A welcome addition to the toddler bookshelf. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-58089-725-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
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