Colorful Brown Bear is a lovely addition to a handsome series, but give Stripy Tiger a pass.
Readers explore a rainbow of colors as they search for the titular bear.
On the left-hand page, the color in question is stated at the top of the page in an oversize font. Below, some short lines of text list the animals or objects toddlers can hunt for, always culminating with the question: “Where is Brown Bear?” On the right-hand side of each spread, little ones can pore over Foster’s stylized renderings of seven objects in the hue in question, all done in thick black lines and inviting patterns. A die-cut circle frames Brown Bear’s face at the center of the page, growing bigger with each page-turn. On the final page, the text reads: “Here is Brown Bear with all his favorite colors. Can you name them?” A cuddly bear is surrounded by three flowers, one of which is formed from the concentric, die-cut circles in rainbow hues. The less-successful companion title, Jane Foster’s Stripy Tiger Pattern Book, features the stylized tiger that appeared on the orange spread of the first book in each of the double-page scenes dizzyingly bedazzled by stripes, squares, swirls, stars, and more. Those readers who do not find the addition of a teepee on the triangle spread inappropriate for reasons of cultural appropriation may objects to its geometric label, as it is more conical in shape than triangular. Tabbed pages let little ones quickly turn to their favorite patterns.
Colorful Brown Bear is a lovely addition to a handsome series, but give Stripy Tiger a pass. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0330-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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