A young dog reflects on all the ways life can be viewed from different vantage points.
From dawn, when the protagonist wakes to view a bedroom ceiling, to nighttime, when the same dog views a moonlit sky from the same bedroom’s window, readers experience one day in the life of this pup. The verso of each double-page spread shows readers the scene the dog inhabits, while the recto shows them a new point of view. At breakfast they see the upside-down face of the pup in the concave reflection from a spoon, and at bathtime they see tub toys floating above them. The first-person narration simply describes each scene with clauses beginning with “when….” Ron Barrett’s chunky pencil drawings with muted colors do a lovely job of illustrating some tricky moments, particularly how things would look from the inside of a T-shirt. While this is a clever exploration of perspective, the board-book format is not a good choice for the exercise, as the core audience is still often learning that others may have a different point of view from themselves.
Here’s hoping that older children discover this clever exploration, even if they feel they’ve moved beyond board books. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3073-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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BOOK REVIEW
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 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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SEEN & HEARD
A rhyming celebration of imagination.
A child with brown skin offers gentle, artful ideas about what to do with autumn leaves. The picture book's idyllic setting seems Northeastern in nature, with deciduous trees shedding leaves, which the child scoops up. Could a leaf from a tree become a hat, a Halloween mask, a hammock, or something else entirely? "It could be a horn that blows, announcing that we're here. // A leafy parade to celebrate our favorite time of year." Rhyme rules the text but isn't forced in the least. Collaged leaves against painted illustrations encourage play and imagination. A nod to winter and spring make this a year-round read. Endpapers with realistic labeled images of leaves provide an injection of information in this otherwise dreamy musing. The backmatter includes instructions on collaging—a meaningful and fun activity that builds upon the text. While there's nothing groundbreaking here, there is opportunity for both learning and whimsy. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sweet, poetic ode to autumn. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30659-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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