Lacking rhymes, lowercase letters, and a story, this is middling ABC fare.
Join in on this alphabetical haunted house tour.
The text’s formatting teases that it will be rhyming verse; sadly, it’s not: “Let’s go for apples! / BOO—it’s a bat! How about that! / Candy corn—yum!” The spreads feature text on the verso and the letters presented on that spread capitalized in a small callout on the top right of the recto. Vibrant, seemingly digital illustrations highlighted with Halloween colors fill in the space between and give readers opportunities to find those items listed in the text. Q and X are represented by “quivering bones” and “X-ray,” and the typical Halloween cast is accounted for: ghost, mummy, vampire, witch, zombie. Even though the called-out letters appear only as capitals, many of the representative words start with lowercase letters. And while some of the sentences include stretch vocabulary and great alliteration (“Freaky fangs all around”), many are like the spelling homework schoolchildren might turn in: “Pumpkins come in all sizes”; “What’s under the stairs?” A final spread includes a tiny thumbnail of each item from the text and the letter it begins with. There is no throughline, and readers may startle to find the kids, one pale and one with beige skin, with their invitation on the “HI” spread when they’ve already been inside the house.
Lacking rhymes, lowercase letters, and a story, this is middling ABC fare. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63440-876-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Red Chair Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A droll exploration of color and nature—and a welcome reminder to safeguard our planet.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wildly popular Crayons have an important ecological message.
Though climate change is never mentioned, the book nevertheless gently introduces responsibility for Planet Earth. As in previous titles, the main text is in a large black font, while the Crayons’ dialogue is presented in a smaller, gray font. Blue begins by showing off a blue-tinged image of the globe (land masses are depicted in a darker hue). Green takes over: “Yay, Trees! I did those!” Beige breaks in, pointing to a tiny wheat plant next to two large trees: “And wheat! I did the WHEAT!” Beige puts wheat front and center throughout—even on White’s drawing of mountaintop ice caps. When Red, Yellow, and Orange display drawings of various fruits, Beige interjects, “And WHEAT. Wheat is totally fruit.” Diplomatic Purple politely responds, “Um. NO. It is not.” Purple attempts to dissuade self-important Beige, but it all ends happily as the Crayons join hands and proclaim: “Our planet has all of us too, in many shapes, colors, and sizes.” Beige and Purple reconcile, with Beige adding, “And it’s our job to keep the planet safe.” Young children will easily absorb this positive message. Although these characters have had many outings, their quiet humor still succeeds, and fans will definitely want this new entry.
A droll exploration of color and nature—and a welcome reminder to safeguard our planet. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593621080
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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