A pleasant elementary alphabet book that allows for further conversation.
A simple picture book that introduces young children to the ABCs via names of foods, including several baked goods.
Author/illustrator Callahan presents the alphabet using small, cute, smiling characters (the titular Chibis) who represent food terms in capitalized and lowercase forms from A to Z. However, the author keeps things very basic and doesn’t make connections between foods; for example, E is for eggsand empanadasbut there’s no explanation that the eggs are used in empanada dough, nor does the book explain how iceand ice cream are related. However, this may provide opportunities for discussion between kids and caregivers. The letter X is represented by “xylocarp (coconut),” which is a bit of stretch; a footnote explains that it’s “a fruit with a hard outer shell.” The book’s overall concept is sound, and the use of foods from around the world, such as empanadas, key limes, and quince, is informative. The characters and illustrations are kid-friendly for emergent readers, as the characters wear costumes that represent the different foods; one wears a doughnut on its head, for instance. The letters on each page are surrounded by a heart, which makes for a visual that’s appealing.
A pleasant elementary alphabet book that allows for further conversation.Pub Date: May 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-957875-04-0
Page Count: 61
Publisher: Joqlie Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall.
This book may not have pictures, but it’s sure to inspire lots of conversations—and laughs.
Television writer, actor and comedian Novak delivers a rare find, indeed: a very good celebrity picture book. It doesn’t even seem fair to call it such, since it has nothing to do with his Emmy Award–winning writing for The Office or the fame his broader career has afforded him. The jacket flap even eschews a glossy photo, instead saying “B.J. has brown hair and blue eyes,” in order to keep with the book’s central conceit. What this book does have is text, and it’s presented through artful typography that visually conveys its changing tone to guide oral readings. Furthermore, the text implies (or rather, demands) a shared reading transaction, in which an adult is compelled to read the text aloud, no matter how “COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS” it is. Employing direct address, it pleads with the implied child listener to allow him or her to stop reading. Nonsense words, silly words to be sung and even a smattering of potty talk for good measure all coalesce in riotous read-aloud fare. Although the closing pages beg the implied child reader to “please please please please / please / choose a book with pictures” for subsequent reading, it’s likely that this request will be ignored.
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall. (. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4171-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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
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