While there are some cute hamster antics going on here, it is an ineffective color concept book for the youngest readers.
In this follow-up to Hamsters Holding Hands (2012), a horde of hamsters introduces little ones to colors.
On the left-hand page, one, two or three hamsters express a penchant for a specific hue; they possess an odd collection of objects, everything from a bubble machine to a tire swing, in said color. On the right-hand page, the hamsters cavort among their things. Clunky verse describes the action and incorporates each color’s name; this word is printed in large, quirky bubble letters as if it were colored in by hand. Some of the objects depicted seem to have been chosen because they fit the rhyme scheme: “These little hamsters collect everything purple / They have a hoop, a wig and a dino named Durple.” As with their first outing, the critters are endearingly drawn cartoons with thick lines and goofy expressions. Design hampers the book’s effectiveness: The background color of the art, a lighter shade of the featured hue, prevents the colorful objects from standing out on the page, particularly on the “black” page, where the blackberries are almost invisible against the black background. The shade used on the “blue” page is a little too aqua and may confuse babies and toddlers learning to distinguish between blue and green.
While there are some cute hamster antics going on here, it is an ineffective color concept book for the youngest readers. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0410-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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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