Though this feels rather like a bound set of attractive animal-themed flashcards, it might be just right for keen young...
Tired of learning about the same-old, same-old “cat” and “rabbit”? Here’s an opportunity to meet 26 new animal friends.
Opening on a verso with the usual critters and a recto crammed with lesser-known species, an awkwardly rhyming introduction challenges readers to learn more about unusual animals. Abruptly, the book then transitions into a traditional ABC format with “A is for Alpaca,” presenting one letter and animal per page, a change that makes it read like an awkwardly stitched-together rhyming book and alphabet book. Its goal of broadening awareness of animal diversity is laudable, but with the creatures sporting only names and no other supporting information, readers might remain lost about what exactly is a “fossa” or a “quokka.” Thankfully, the book finds its hooves and paws with its graphically gorgeous design and illustrations. Showy, stylized animals achieve a delicate balance between cute yet realistic, and they look especially spiffy against sleekly patterned or richly saturated pastel backgrounds. Each double-page spread offers its own harmonious color combination, so the bright pink highlights and green-striped background of the “okapi” inversely mirror the opposite page’s “pademelon” and its vivid pink background and bushes in shades of green.
Though this feels rather like a bound set of attractive animal-themed flashcards, it might be just right for keen young zoologists. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63322-628-9
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Walter Foster Jr.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Don’t judge this book by its cover; there’s an unusual concept and whimsical illustrations hiding underneath
A series of solid shapes substitute for natural objects in this board book that is somewhere between concept book and riddle game.
What’s that shape supposed to be? Running across a rust-brown labeled triangle, amid trees and elk, the text “Climb a TRIANGLE to the top” suggests the shape is a mountain; in an ocean scene with a red “STAR washed in on the waves,” the shape implies a sea star. Ample visual cues give young readers enough context to guess what the shape evokes, with some unexpected touches, such as “HEXAGON” printed on hexagonal honeycombs buzzing with bees and surrounded by golden flowers. Short, commanding sentences keep things humming, but with only six shapes covered, the book feels all too brief. Illustrator Devernay combines delicate pencil line drawings and sketchy gray-black shading with tiny, meticulously cut colored-paper collage to create her plants and animals. The most intimate drawings amaze. Close-ups of smooth stones are so appealing that readers will long to pick one up and “rub a smooth OVAL between thumb and finger.” Sadly, the cover doesn’t do the interior justice, and things get murky when several hues mix there and on the final spread. But on other spreads, where there’s a single color, it pops against the gray, such as the minute yellow beaks on the flock of charcoal birds circling the yellow “CIRCLE” sun.
Don’t judge this book by its cover; there’s an unusual concept and whimsical illustrations hiding underneath . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-56846-317-9
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BLOG
A fun, new take on droppings.
Youngsters can learn about where and how various animals, domestic and wild, relieve themselves.
Via a pull-tab embedded in each recto (not, thankfully, in the rectum) readers can see the before and after, and a goldfish in a bowl leaves a trail while swimming. The verso asks each creature where it does its business, and then a (sometimes-forced) rhyming quatrain, translated from Italian, answers the question: “And where do YOU poop, mouse? / When inside my tummy / Starts to feel not so good / It’s time for a poop / On these chips made of wood!” The final double-page spread queries readers: “And where do YOU poop?” A redheaded, White toddler’s face is visible below this question; the pull-tab on the right opens a bathroom to reveal a White toddler, this time with medium brown hair, happily and modestly sitting on a blue toddler potty. The accompanying quatrain provides some developmentally appropriate guidance for feeling the signs of a movement coming on. Baruzzi’s art is droll and graphically clean (inasmuch as the depiction of excrement can be described that way). Little fingers may need some help finding the relatively easy-to-open and sturdy pull-tabs, since they blend into each page. It works as both a biology lesson and potty-training encouragement.
A fun, new take on droppings. (Novelty board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66265-042-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
