The lovely art and pleasant text is ill-served by the book design.
A primer of collective animal nouns.
In rhymed couplets (one line per double-page spread), Riggs introduces the very young to a “flock of geese,” a “colony of ants,” “troops of monkeys,” and more. The title ends with a review of all the creatures presented with a regrettably forced rhyme: “A pod of dolphins catches a wave. // Families go by many names!” Dogi’s naturalistic art, which has the polished look of airbrush renderings, is attractive and helpful to young ones learning to name the creatures of the animal kingdom. The images are presented against a bright white background, which, though fine in most cases, is a poor choice for some of spreads, particularly for the “cloud of bats” as it may lead readers to believe that these critters tend to roost in brightly lit areas. Some of the double spreads present one integrated scene, while others use two distinct images to illustrate the animals in question, bifurcating the tableau.
The lovely art and pleasant text is ill-served by the book design. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-56846-301-8
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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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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