While Esbaum and Boldt can’t address every aspect of having a new baby around the house, they hit the relevant...
Dinosaur fans expecting a new baby in the family now have a guide to big-siblinghood.
Esbaum and Boldt address readers directly in the second person and play up the humor of the ups and downs of having a baby. “Good news!” is followed by “Bad news!”: “Your mama’s hatching a baby!” but “Babies take their sweet time.” Mama dino carries a car seat with an egg strapped inside. Three pages show that the wait is too much for the impatient sibling: dad rescues the egg from a hammer-and-screwdriver threat. Of course, the egg hatches, then it’s time to wait until the new baby is big enough to do anything other than scream, eat, burp, sleep, and poop (this last causes the sibling to run away screaming). Gradually, the book continues, it will be your job to teach the baby how to be a dino, but be careful: babies are copycats, so watch your behavior. The digital T. Rexes are each a different color, the new baby pink with a purple pacifier, the older sibling orange with a blue shirt and toys that suggest it may be a boy.
While Esbaum and Boldt can’t address every aspect of having a new baby around the house, they hit the relevant highlights—the serious, the horrific, and the hysterical—and tenderly portray the growing bond between the two children. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-53910-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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