Divided into the types of games parents and children can play as they read these rhymes, this collection focuses on lifting, bumping, wiggling, clapping and pantomiming motions. With directions for play, brief historical notes, music for piano and guitar and many of the more obscure rhymes, this is a comprehensive collection. Yolen’s introduction states that, “The lap is a kind of schoolroom. What a child learns there is learned forever.” In this case, they will learn not only the familiar, but some British and European rhymes, little-known to the American mom or dad, but good for playing games similar to the recognizable ones. Hillenbrand’s illustrations are a delight, featuring a largely porcine cast, soft colors and playful borders echoing the monkey business within. A 15-minute CD of selected songs arranged and performed by Jeff Waxman is included. With so much vibrant and fun music out there for kids now, this CD is a disappointment by being neither. If comprehensiveness is a consideration, this is a must for a collection. (Picture book. 1-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-1348-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
Festive fun.
A small fox receives a special holiday visitor: a Santa who is just his size.
How often do young children fear the world is too big and overwhelming to notice them? In this adorable board book with an appropriately tiny trim, a diminutive fox worries that Santa will overlook him because he is “too little / And Santa’s sled too high.” But the “teeny tiny fox”—and toddler listeners—is reassured that he won’t be forgotten when the titular “teeny tiny Santa” not only notices the fox, but brings him a fun-sized “teeny tiny treat,” finishing up the visit with a “teeny tiny pat”—all images that are sure to delight youngsters. Santa leaves as the fox curls up in a den carpeted with a cozy blanket and bedecked with lights; it’s a gratifying ending. The text is related in a staccato rhythm, and it takes a verse or two to become accustomed to the book’s clipped tone, but the repetitive “teeny tiny” refrain is catchy. Visually, it’s holly-jolly, with clean-looking digital art using simple geometric shapes to form triangular trees and circular, grinning snowman while icy blue-green backgrounds allow the flashy copper fox and pale-skinned Santa, with his “ruby-colored” cheeks, to look vibrant. The rotund Santa, the angular and sleek fox, and a team of wee reindeer all have a vintage, 1950s look that well complements the straightforward story.
Festive fun. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31849-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Amiable if slight.
In a text that can be sung to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” a young dinosaur plays with other prehistoric friends and gets ready for bed.
In this companion piece to Twinkle, Twinkle Unicorn (2019), each double-page spread features a friendly, green theropod with rosy cheeks watching pink pterosaurs fly, using a sauropod’s tail as a sliding board, and watching volcanoes explode in the night sky. As the sun sets, the dinosaur yawns and heads back home to two larger dinosaurs, one pink with eyelashes and one blue without, who appear to be mama and papa dinosaur respectively (did color stereotyping based on gender exist 65 million years ago? And why isn’t the protagonist dinosaur mauve?). Waring has arguably created the most benign and affable dinosaurs possible, with their perpetual smiles, rounded horns and teeth, oversized eyes, and brightly colored hides. Weighing in at only a slight 16 pages, the book runs through two modified verses of the classic, and the first scans quite fluidly. The second stanza feels a little forced to make it fit into the bedtime theme: “Twinkle, twinkle dinosaur, / the day is done. / It’s time to snore.”
Amiable if slight. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3975-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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