A sweet introduction to wild animals that promotes observational skills.
Prompted by questions, children are encouraged to find camouflaged animals.
A full-bleed illustration of a jungle spills onto its adjacent page. A tiger, a parrot, a blue frog, and an insect can be glimpsed among the exuberant foliage. The question “Who squawks and talks?” prompts children to explore the image and identify the animal that fits the description. When readers turn the page, the correct answer is revealed inside an illustrated circle accompanied by text: “Peekaboo Parrot!” Following this same plosive-popping format, five other animals are presented—a porcupine, a penguin, a panda, a porpoise, and a prairie dog—each in its corresponding habitat. The questions are short but vocabulary rich: “Who’s plump and pokey?” “Who waddles and slides?” “Who’s black, white, and chews bamboo?” “Who swims and splashes?” “Who burrows and barks?” The last spread, though sweet and appropriate for the target audience, is somewhat unrelated to the rest of book, both in subject and question, though the presentation format is the same. Hidden behind the foliage of potted houseplants, readers can glimpse a cat, a dog, a human baby, and two dark-haired, white, adult humans (presumably the child’s parents). The question here is: “Who loves their baby?” the answer: “Peekaboo People!”
A sweet introduction to wild animals that promotes observational skills. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-936669-82-0
Page Count: 14
Publisher: blue manatee press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
A book about engineering notable mostly for its illustrations of diverse characters. (Board book. 1-3)
Babies and engineers have more in common than you think.
In this book, Alexander highlights the unlikely similarities between babies and engineers. Like engineers, babies ask questions, enjoy building, and learn from their mistakes. Black’s bold, colorful illustrations feature diverse babies and both male- and female-presenting adult characters with a variety of skin tones and hair colors, effectively demonstrating that engineers can be any race or either gender. (Nonbinary models are a little harder to see.) The story ends with a reassurance to the babies in the book that “We believe in you!” presumably implying that any child can be an engineer. The end pages include facts about different kinds of engineers and the basic process used by all engineers in their work. Although the book opens with a rhythmic rhyming couplet, the remaining text lacks the same structure and pattern, making it less entertaining to read. Furthermore, while some of the comparisons between babies and engineers are both clever and apt, others—such as the idea that babies know where to look for answers—are flimsier. The book ends with a text-heavy spread of facts about engineering that, bereft of illustrations, may not hold children’s attention as well as the previous pages. Despite these flaws, on its best pages, the book is visually stimulating, witty, and thoughtful.
A book about engineering notable mostly for its illustrations of diverse characters. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31223-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fun, new take on droppings.
Youngsters can learn about where and how various animals, domestic and wild, relieve themselves.
Via a pull-tab embedded in each recto (not, thankfully, in the rectum) readers can see the before and after, and a goldfish in a bowl leaves a trail while swimming. The verso asks each creature where it does its business, and then a (sometimes-forced) rhyming quatrain, translated from Italian, answers the question: “And where do YOU poop, mouse? / When inside my tummy / Starts to feel not so good / It’s time for a poop / On these chips made of wood!” The final double-page spread queries readers: “And where do YOU poop?” A redheaded, White toddler’s face is visible below this question; the pull-tab on the right opens a bathroom to reveal a White toddler, this time with medium brown hair, happily and modestly sitting on a blue toddler potty. The accompanying quatrain provides some developmentally appropriate guidance for feeling the signs of a movement coming on. Baruzzi’s art is droll and graphically clean (inasmuch as the depiction of excrement can be described that way). Little fingers may need some help finding the relatively easy-to-open and sturdy pull-tabs, since they blend into each page. It works as both a biology lesson and potty-training encouragement.
A fun, new take on droppings. (Novelty board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66265-042-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
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