An attractive and enchanting bedtime story.
Constellations come out and play at night.
Sung to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” this board book introduces little readers to the numerous creatures that light up the night sky. Little ones can use their fingers to trace the shapes of Leo, Orion, Cygnus, and more as the sky grows darker and darker and the stars shine brighter and brighter. A large, die-cut star filled with shiny, slightly wrinkled Mylar appears opposite the traditional, final verse of the familiar rhyme, which substitutes “crinkle” for “twinkle,” to end the book, engaging readers for one last lovely experience. The book works like gangbusters as a bedtime story, lulling tired bodies with a familiar tune and deep, warm colors. The diagrams of the constellations are overlaid with fetching illustrations of a brave lion, a smiling archer, a flying swan, and more. The back cover is constructed with a further layer of crinkled material between board and paper, lending tactile interest, and the shiny stuff appears behind Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in peek-through cutouts on the cover.
An attractive and enchanting bedtime story. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5235-0120-5
Page Count: 17
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Simon says open the book, read, and enjoy.
When a preschool-age child imagines being inside a book, readers participate in the journey with Simon Says commands.
This board book starts on the cover with a dark-haired white child independently reading a book at bedtime. As the title suggests, readers open the book along with the protagonist, who becomes a part of the story set on the ocean on the first page. Each two-page layout includes a Simon Says command presented in a rhyming couplet with the significant verb printed in boldface: “Simon says open the book. / Have a look.” The directions throughout invite readers to participate as the protagonist does everything from traveling to the moon (“Simon says point to the sky”) to exchanging affectionate greetings with an octopus from the deck of a ship (“Simon says blow a kiss”). In the end, readers see the child snugly sprawled on the bed, with remnants of the imaginary travel in the surrounding room. Reagan’s illustrations convey the dark and stillness of the ocean and sky at night, everything washed in a gray tone. The parallels between what the child sees on the imaginary exploration and what readers see in the bedroom play up the beauty and reality of a child’s fantasy. Zebrowska’s rhyming Simon Says text invites readers to play along even if they’re not really on their way to the moon—a nice way to engage squirmy listeners.
Simon says open the book, read, and enjoy. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-56846-330-8
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Little hands will enjoy holding this small, chunky book; adult readers can supply their own text.
This diminutive board book presents the delights to be found at a fair.
Tiny in both size and number of pages—just five double-page spreads—this will fit wee hands easily and will be easy to manipulate. The thick die-cut pages stack from smallest to largest, each page die cut to resemble the object it represents: a merry-go-round on recto and popcorn truck on its verso; an old fashioned train; a roller coaster; bumper cars; swings; assorted carnival games, and finally a Ferris wheel. While the saturated colors of the illustrations and the tactile book format will be appealing to the littlest readers, the limited, unattributed text is uninspired and flat: “Welcome to the fun fair! / Where the roller coaster goes up then down. / The bumper cars spin and zoom. / The swings swish and twirl. / And the Ferris wheel goes round and round. There’s so much fun to be had at the fair!” It’s a pity the text can’t rise to the level of excitement it promises fairgoers. The colorful and stylized illustrations portray a large number of people—equally divided between bright-pink and brown skin tones.
Little hands will enjoy holding this small, chunky book; adult readers can supply their own text. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7493-8
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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