A simple introduction and a solid addition to elementary-age collections.
Graphic artist Weinberg’s debut picture book introduces readers to different animal traits.
“Look closely!” On the verso, a green chameleon and a leaflike katydid blend in with the surrounding leafy trees: “Some animals blend into the background”; on the recto, a peacock stands with tail fully spread against a white background: “while others want to be seen by all.” In this book’s simple text and eye-catching illustrations, young readers can compare and contrast different animals and their traits: a small ladybug and an enormous blue whale, water-bathing Japanese macaques and mud-bathing hippos. The text is occasionally playful (“Some animals eat plants. / And some plants eat animals!”) and even surprising. “Some animals exist only in stories and legends” (a winged unicorn and jackalope, among other mythical creatures), “while others are real / but seem make believe” (a leafy sea dragon and a pangolin). Ben-Day–style digital illustrations portray many of the animals with a posed quality that occasionally veers into a flat affect, but the bright colors are engaging, and the images work effectively in tandem with the text. The final spread, featuring a beige-skinned child asleep in a room full of animal artifacts, asks the question “Which animal do you like best?” and invites readers to flip back to favorite spreads or move forward to the backmatter, which offers further facts about the animals portrayed.
A simple introduction and a solid addition to elementary-age collections. (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62414-580-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers.
The team of Costain and Lovšin (Daddies are Awesome, 2016) gives moms their due.
Rhyming verses tell of all the ways moms are amazing: “Mommies are magic. / They kiss away troubles… // …find gold in the sunlight / and rainbows in bubbles.” Moms are joyful—the best playmates. They are also fearless and will protect and soothe if you are scared. Clever moms know just what to do when you’re sad, sporty moms run and leap and climb, while tender moms cuddle. “My mommy’s so special. / I tell her each day… // … just how much I love her / in every way!” Whereas dads were illustrated with playful pups and grown-up dogs in the previous book, moms are shown as cats with their kittens in myriad colors, sizes, and breeds. Lovšin’s cats look as though they are smiling at each other in their fun, though several spreads are distractingly cut in half by the gutter. However delightful the presentation—the verse rolls fairly smoothly, and the cats are pretty cute—the overall effect is akin to a cream puff’s: very sweet and insubstantial.
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-651-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
© 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
