A lovely, playful way to share the Advent season.
Two children count down the days to Christmas in this British lift-the-flap book.
Flaps numbered from 1 to 25 hide surprises for the children as they ice-skate, go Christmas shopping, and sing carols in anticipation of the holiday. Readers are invited to “find the flaps” and participate in the activities along with the child protagonists and their dog. The text appears in a variety of playful types and sizes. “Who is hiding behind the tree?” curves above a flap with a picture of a tree, behind which is a deer. Each flap hides both an image and associated vocabulary word. Some flaps take some looking to find, adding to the fun. The boy and girl could be siblings or friends—one is brown-skinned with curly hair; the other, white-skinned with long braids. The mixed-media illustrations in clear, solid colors often have the look of crayon and colored pencil and will appeal to youngsters. Characters and other figures look as though they could have been cut from paper, resembling a child’s own artwork. There are lots of things to find on all of the colorful, nicely designed pages in addition to what’s behind the flaps. The hustle and bustle of a busy household and community will be familiar to children.
A lovely, playful way to share the Advent season. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4088-8978-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.
A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.
Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-611-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
All aboard for a spooktacularly sleepy ride!
The goodnight train is back for a not-so-scary fourth installment.
The nighttime locomotive travels through an autumnal landscape that’s bursting with Halloween tropes. As in the previous stories, bed-shaped cars are hooked up for a train ride; here, three diverse children are dressed in their Halloween finest as a skeleton, a princess, and a bee. Fans of the series will find the usual perks of a solid rhyme scheme, additional words and sounds peppering the illustrations, and pages of yawning creatures signaling that it’s time for bed. Those unfamiliar with the series will also find the book amusing, but readers who really love Halloween—or spooky things like bats, ghosts, and black cats—will enjoy it the most. As with the other installments in this series, educators and librarians will find this useful for seasonal book displays and storytimes but will probably keep it out year-round because it checks many of the boxes that signal a solid addition to any board-book library. Die-cut circles of various sizes are sprinkled across the double-page spreads, giving caregivers a chance to test young readers’ predictive skills while providing small hints at what’s to come. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
All aboard for a spooktacularly sleepy ride! (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-3586-2607-7
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
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