by Joyce Wan ; illustrated by Joyce Wan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2018
A harmless sugar-coated confection that won’t rot baby’s teeth.
One of the five spongy cupcakes that show up flush with the die-cut front cover of this board book disappears with each page turn.
Using a familiar rhyme pattern, this sweet confection counts down from “5 yummy cupcakes” to “One yummy cupcake.” The smiling pastel cupcakes, each decorated with a different type of sprinkles, are engaged in very un-cake-like behavior. They “shimmy,” “giggle,” “jiggle,” “wiggle,” and “swing” but one by one are ultimately bumped off the page by a milkshake, doughnut, ice cream cone, and cookie. Each stanza is displayed against a different background—a cake shop, a meadow with a smiling rainbow, a carnival complete with rides, and a library. That none of this makes any sense won’t matter at all to little sweethearts just learning to count backward. The rhymes read smoothly, and the rhythm bounces along to a predictable beat. Wan’s palette of pink, mint green, and lemon yellow is tempered by shades of peach, olive green, and purple, along with chocolate-brown outlines. Unlike real cupcakes (or the monkeys readers might be familiar with from a similarly cadenced rhyme), none are devoured. On the final spread all five cupcakes and their sweet-treat friends return, “laughing joyfully” under a mostly pink rainbow that arcs across a sprinkle sky.
A harmless sugar-coated confection that won’t rot baby’s teeth. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-04535-2
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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by Sue Lowell Gallion ; illustrated by Joyce Wan
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by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 2014
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna
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by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Dan Hanna
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by Deborah Diesen ; illustrated by Magdalena Mora
by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2023
Peek, and you’ll find a rollicking romp here.
The favorite game of toddlers gets a dino twist.
A large dinosaur tries to outsmart a smaller companion when the duo play peekaboo together. The big dino naïvely believes they won’t be noticed behind or under sundry hiding places, but the little pal always finds their playmate. Young listeners will giggle as the large dino attempts to outwit the little one, but in vain; in every instance, the diminutive, overalls-clad dino calls out a triumphant “Peekaboo!” How come? Is it because thin tree trunks and a potted plant can’t conceal the large dino’s frame? Do the big dino’s bold, flower-print shirts stick out a mile? Even when the large dinosaur attempts an aerial hiding place, they discover that ruse doesn’t, ahem, fly, nor does hiding in a crowd wearing a Where’s Waldo?–esque red-striped cap and T-shirt do any good. In a display of good sportsmanship, the big dino concedes at the end the game was fun. The youngest audiences, all of whom will have likely engaged in marathon peekaboo sessions themselves, will undoubtedly scramble to play again. Besides stimulating playtime, this adorable board book, expressed in lilting rhymes, boosts vocabulary development through the use of some common prepositions (behind, in) and adverbs (here, there, everywhere). The illustrations are sweetly engaging; the round cutout on the front cover invites youngsters to play peekaboo games with adult partners and others. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Peek, and you’ll find a rollicking romp here. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66592-840-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton
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by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton
BOOK REVIEW
by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton
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