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THE BEAR WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN

A fine addition to the storytime shelf.

Seasons and senses and bears, oh my!

In a refreshing spin on an old sing-along favorite, Trapani’s bear doesn’t go over the mountain just to see what he can see, but to hear, touch, smell and taste as well. His sensory adventures are humorously cut short when he sees a mama duck nipping and chasing him away, hears a snake hissing in his ear, smells a skunk spraying, feels a porcupine’s quills and has his taste of sweet honey interrupted by a swarm of buzzing bees. Verse by verse, the song’s text introduces the five senses while art depicts the (mis)adventures and also provides a visual representation of the progression of the seasons. By book’s end, winter has arrived, and Bear retreats over the mountain again to his den, leaving readers with the satisfying ending: “And now the bear is snoring, / Snugly in his den.” In case readers are unaware of the tune to the song, backmatter provides the score and verses all on a single page. Throughout, the colorful paintings of the subtly anthropomorphized bear frolicking in his woodland mountain habitat will engage young readers and singers.

A fine addition to the storytime shelf. (Picture book. 1-4)

Pub Date: April 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-61608-510-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012

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SPOOKY POOKIE

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.

It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: July 7, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5

Page Count: 18

Publisher: Robin Corey/Random

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S SPRINGTIME

From the Little Blue Truck series

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.

Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.

This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)

Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0

Page Count: 16

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

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