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LET'S READ ANIMAL WORDS

Name: LET'S READ ANIMAL WORDS
Author: Ji Lee
ISBN: 9780063244993

by Ji Lee ; illustrated by Ji Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 18, 2023

An inspired and visually creative take on the ABCs.

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Letters become animal art in this fact-filled picture book.

A lowercase letter h forms the shape of a horse’s body; an uppercase O, R, and S form the mane, with the tail made up of an upper-case E. Each animal is designed in this style, the letters twisted or flipped. For each animal, Lee includes a concise fact. While a few of these tidbits are refreshingly new (“Sea lions can get lost without their whiskers”), many will be familiar to even young readers (“Ostriches are the largest bird in the world, but they can’t fly”). A few questions are sprinkled throughout, which make for nice pauses in the text: “Flamingos are pink because of the food they eat. If you ate lots of broccoli, would you become green?” Most of the letter-formed animals appear against an all-white background, with a few exceptions. The letter R is cleverly turned upside down forming a rabbit’s ears, but as a part of the rhino, it’s flipped on its side as the horn. The stretched and rotated letters might confuse pre-readers familiar with the alphabet, so adult readers beware: This is by no means a book to help little ones learn their ABCs. But the alphabet as art is compelling, and it functions more like a game than actual reading, especially for little readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An inspired and visually creative take on the ABCs. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: July 18, 2023

ISBN: 9780063244993

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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Z GOES FIRST

AN ALPHABET STORY Z-TO-A

by Sean Lamb ; illustrated by Mike Perry ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 29, 2018

Will Z and Y make it to the beginning of the alphabet? Kids will no doubt find their quest a hoot and giggle.

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With so many alphabet books bouncing around, it’s no wonder that letter Z is tired of being in last place. For a change, she wants to go first.

Being at the end is sooo boring, so Z and Y together decide to challenge the other letters for position—but they run into a number of letters blocking their way. E stretches into a fence. D blocks their path with his big belly (from eating too many doughnuts). F and G let them pass with a warning that H might be grumpy. LMNOP stick together like a brick wall. While the storyline plays itself out with understated humor, the bright, mixed-media illustrations shape each letter like a Saturday-morning–cartoon character, with googly eyes and (mostly) smiling faces. Each one has a personality trait, with vivid colors adding to the comic effect, and some letters seem to contain related references in their design. For example, M looks rather like a dog, which may prompt caregivers to introduce the vocabulary word “mutt,” but this is not consistent—why does the J have a head that looks like a duck?

Will Z and Y make it to the beginning of the alphabet? Kids will no doubt find their quest a hoot and giggle. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: May 29, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-250-12395-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Imprint

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

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THE OTHER DUCKS

by Ellen Yeomans ; illustrated by Chris Sheban ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2018

A marvelous portrayal of the humor and uncertainty surrounding growth—and the comfort in having a fellow traveler.

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This Duck (a confident female) and That Duck (a trepidatious male) enjoy each other’s companionship in the “wadey-water” until discovering a wider world makes the extrovert wish for more friends.

This Duck yearns to lead a “more ducky” line when they move about, prompting her to wish for Other Ducks. Yeomans’ language is a delightful combination of the childlike and the existential. When questioned about the meaning of “Other Ducks,” she replies, “Like us, only not us.” Sheban’s soft, textured compositions are rendered in watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite; they start out sunny, with warm greens and yellows in the foreground and cool lavender shadows and shapes on the horizon. The lighting and mood change with the seasons and situations. As they explore, This Duck, who is observant but not always accurate, speaks to her mate in ways that will remind adults of an old married couple. Their misunderstandings and postures are humorous, as when they see their reflections and attempt to coax their new liquid companions into line. Nature’s pull leads the pair to follow their autumnal instincts—learning to fly and falling into formation with others of their kind. While that experience is exhilarating, it pales in comparison to the feeling next summer when four adorable ducklings bring up the rear.

A marvelous portrayal of the humor and uncertainty surrounding growth—and the comfort in having a fellow traveler. (Picture book. 4-6)