This duo is sure to reflect some of what readers’ own mommies enjoy and to possibly give them ideas for additional ways to...
This sequel to What Daddies Like (2017) gives mommies their due.
In this second outing for Nevin and Six, an anthropomorphic mother-child bear pair spends the day together. “Mommies like big hugs. / Mommies like kisses. // Mommies like ‘Good morning to you!’ // Mommies like field trips. / Mommies like bike rides. // Mommies like the library, too.” The child rides a two-wheeler behind Mommy (both wear helmets) to the library, where they join other parents and children (including one in a wheelchair) for some organized (but sometimes loud—“hullabaloo” is rhymed with “kazoo,” which they play on the way home) activities. Drumming, cooking and eating together, reading, baths, cuddles, and “you” round out the things mommies love. This book is one best shared in an intimate setting, as Six’s illustrations include delightful but tiny details: Mommy loses her enthusiasm for her spaghetti dinner as her cub chatters on about worms. As in the title dedicated to dads, the stocky bears have big noses and the tiniest of ears (some readers may not identify them as bears at all), and the gender of the child is ambiguous.
This duo is sure to reflect some of what readers’ own mommies enjoy and to possibly give them ideas for additional ways to spend time together. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0528-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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