Wannabe ninjas will flip over this board book’s cool vibe, awesomely frenetic art, and dual math and sharing narrative
Crafty ninjas take on both math and samurai masters to win a tasty taco treasure.
Ten young ninjas and their plucky Siamese cat are hot on the trail of some tasty grub before they lose it to a rival gang of kid samurais and their petulant pup. Chaos ensues until the ninjas’ smooth moves turn the coveted tacos into taco salad for everyone to savor, a meal that unmasks a racially diverse group of boys and girls. Underlying the rollicking adventure is a math component about fact families, with ninjas dividing into different equations that equal 10: On a lone fold-out page, “Five ninjas chop! Five do spin kicks!” It’s refreshing to see a fairly conceptually sophisticated math board book, though the ninjas occasionally clump so tightly that distinguishing how many are in each group is challenging. Illustrations are pure fun, an homage to old-school comics and arcade games, with spiky speech bubbles, motion lines, classic video-game display type, and flying projectiles that suggest that ninjas will “crash” or “swoop” in at any second. The contrast of the black-suited ninjas against the bright, complementary color scheme enhances their dynamism. With its relentless rhythm and enough punctuation that grown-ups can really ham it up, it’s a blast to read aloud.
Wannabe ninjas will flip over this board book’s cool vibe, awesomely frenetic art, and dual math and sharing narrative . (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1869-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The history of music is a big topic, and more-nuanced explanation is needed than the format allows.
This ambitious board book aims to promote an eclectic appreciation for music of all kinds.
Music, from drumming to computer-generated sound, is introduced as a linear historical sequence with two pages devoted to each of 11 styles, including medieval European, orchestral, blues, and more. Most of the musicians are portrayed as children, many with darker skin tones and with hairstyles and garb commonly associated with each type of music. Radford works in a retro cartoon mode, varying his presentation slightly with each new musical style but including a dancing dachshund on almost every spread, presumably to enhance child appeal. Unfortunately, the book just can’t succeed in reducing such a wide range of musical styles to toddler-appropriate language. The first two spreads read: “We start with clapping, tapping, and drums. // Lutes, flutes, and words are what we become.” The accompanying illustrations show, respectively, half-naked drummers and European court figures reading, writing, and playing a flute. Both spreads feature both brown-skinned and pale-skinned figures. At first reading this seems innocent enough, but the implication that clapping and drumming are somehow less civilized or sophisticated than a European style is reinforced in Stosuy’s glossary of music terms. He describes “Prehistoric Music” as “rhythmic music [made] with rocks, sticks, bones, and…voices,” while “Renaissance Music” is defined as “multiple melodies played at the same time.”
The history of music is a big topic, and more-nuanced explanation is needed than the format allows. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0941-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Simple words and big concepts will make this a godsend to parents at their wit's end.
This book seeks to use the power of persuasion to vanquish that most formidable of opponents: toddlers.
In this entry in the Big Kid Power series, a little black girl makes no bones about the fact that pacifiers (or “binkies”) are strictly baby territory. When she was little she needed one, but that was then. Whether she’s tired, sad, or hungry, there are other ways of being comforted: hugs and polite requests, for instance. After she gives her binky to a baby and bids it a very clear goodbye, the book ends with a triumphant, “I’M A BIG KID!” Using a striking color combination of orange, brown, and black, van Lieshout keeps her pages bold and bright, complementing the simple vocabulary. Such declarations as, “Do I still have a binky? // NO, BIG KIDS DON’T NEED A BINKY. / NOPE!” leave scant wiggle room for argument. In her author’s note at the end, van Lieshout says that after speaking to many parents about how they helped their kids bid their pacifiers adieu, “many of them had in common…a ritual of some sort.” The ritual here seems to be giving the pacifier away, though it may be missed by many readers. Companion title I Use the Potty uses a similar approach, with a proud, white boy as its guide.
Simple words and big concepts will make this a godsend to parents at their wit's end. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3536-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
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