Eye-catching illustrations enliven a children’s musical classic. A two-page aerial view shows rectangular farm plots of various sizes and colors, before we meet Old MacDonald, with abundant gray curls and rosy cheeks. A perky dog is always at his side. Cabrera’s swirls and dabs of paint, besides covering a wide spectrum of colors, also give a three-dimensional appearance to her paintings. These show MacDonald rowing in a boat surrounded by quacking ducks, cradling a lamb while surveying his meadow of sheep, riding a horse, etc. After all the animals have a cacophonous reprise, MacDonald and his wife share one more verse, featuring . . . a baby! Nothing particularly original here, but a bright enticement to the very young to sing along, and learn about the farm animals. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: March 15, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2141-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2008
Happy dreams! (Picture book. 2-5)
In a bedtime prelude a pigtailed child takes direction from animals in a version of “Simon Says” that eventually leads to slumber.
The book starts off with “Everybody suck your thumbs / Just like me!” On the left readers see a large monkey with thumb in mouth; on the right, the white, rosy-cheeked child with two pigtails that look rather like antennae stands in front of a fuzzy, green caterpillar as both comply and suck their thumbs. A bear continues, picking up the rhyme with “Everybody rub your tums / Just like me!” The large figures against plenty of white space are drawn with rounded edges, giving them the soft, cuddly, fuzzy look of a child’s stuffed menagerie. The colorful paintings with black details complement the black type of the repetitive, call-and-response narrative. The animal companions also include a cat, sheep, dog, flamingo, giraffe, pelican, rabbit, pig, and frog, all providing a fun or silly direction for the child and caterpillar to follow until a bee finally comes in with “Now it’s time to go to sleep / Just like ZZZ.” The rear endpapers reveal an enormous bed with everyone lined up snoozing. Inspired child-and-caregiver pairs may well adopt such modeled activities as stretching with the giraffe or flapping arms with the pelican until exhaustion ensues. (The nose-picking, however, may be one to bypass.)
Happy dreams! (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-911171-11-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
An engaging take.
The itsy bitsy spider scales the water spout again.
Little readers all over know about the itsy bitsy spider’s quest to reach the top of the water spout. This board book features sliding panels that let little ones help the spider along its journey. The song’s four verses are spread over four double-page spreads, with the spider finally achieving the top of the water spout against a rainbow backdrop on the final page. The illustrations boast a color palette that leans heavily on purples, blues, yellows, and greens. The spider is a round, smiling critter with a jaunty cap and high-top sneakers on all eight feet (one pair each of red, orange, yellow, and blue). The first page of the board book holds a QR code for caregivers to download a free version of the song. The sliding panels are sturdily built, and the calm nature of the song will aid their durability. While some little ones will instinctively want to sing the song and go through the accompanying hand motions, they will adapt to the interactive manipulations fairly easily, making this especially well suited to car rides.
An engaging take. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9581-1
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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