Share this sturdy, age-appropriate board book freely—just don’t expect a quiet storytime
Just enough information for toddlers—and noisy too!
The forest of the title is the rainforest. A close-up of a gorilla nibbling on a leaf invites readers to explore this habitat. On the first spread a chimp is shown trying to catch a raindrop. The spare text reads, “Raindrops splash.” The following six spreads follow a pattern: an adjective that describes the animal shown is followed by a sound that animal might make: “Singing frogs hum.” Preschoolers will want to imitate the animals’ noisy behaviors and “hoot” like the chimpanzees, “squawk” like the parrots, “munch” like that gorilla, and “thud” like a herd of elephants. Order is restored on the final spread: “Night air whispers”—illustrated by the elephant and parrot, now sleeping. The verbs are emphasized by larger, colored type. The simple repetition expands young children’s vocabularies without distracting and wordy explanations. Despite all the noise, a fair amount of information about the African rainforest is relayed through detailed, if somewhat idealized, pictures. Dogi created the layered paintings using an airbrush, with details added by hand. Oversized tropical plants, decorative butterflies, and animals stand out against clean white backgrounds.
Share this sturdy, age-appropriate board book freely—just don’t expect a quiet storytime . (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-56846-318-6
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
A nice addition to this baby-attuned series.
In this newest addition to the Baby Scientist series toddlers are introduced to the basics of what a botanist does.
The book starts with a simple and straightforward explanation of its subject matter: “Who studies plants? / Baby Botanist does!” Wearing a white lab coat with yellow polka dots, a brown-skinned child with a purple hair bow holding up its one little curl proceeds to present a number of simply stated and easily understood plant facts. As with the previous books, the illustrations are colorful, uncluttered, and humorously engaging, and baby has a sidekick; this time it is a blue-and-yellow snail. After planting a seed, Baby wonders what plant will grow. The text explains that some plants have roots and some do not, and they might grow on water or underground. In a simple acknowledgment of a healthy diet, the book states “Baby’s favorite foods all come from plants.” Children are also presented with food they may not recognize as coming from plants, such as noodles and chocolate. In the end, the seed that Baby has planted, watered, and kept in the sunlight “grows into a flower for Mama!” and with that comes a big thank-you hug from Mama.
A nice addition to this baby-attuned series. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-284132-2
Page Count: 22
Publisher: HarperFestival
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
Satisfying, engaging, and sure to entertain the toddlers at whom it is aimed.
Nine basic shapes in vivid shifting colors are stacked on pages in various permutations.
This visually striking and carefully assembled collection of shapes, which seems to have been inspired by an Eric Carle aesthetic, invites young children to put their observation, categorization, problem-solving, color, and spatial-relation skills to work, pondering shapes and compositions—and even learning about prepositions in the process. As the text says, “a stack of shapes can make you think and wonder what you see.” First, readers see a circle under a strawberry (the red diamond with a leafy, green top and yellow-triangle seeds) and then that berry over a green square. The orange oval made to look like a fish is added to a stack of three shapes to become “yellow over diamond under guppy over green.” And so on. The metamorphosis of many of these simple shapes into animals (a yellow circle becomes a lion; a green square, a frog; a pink heart, a pig; a yellow diamond, a chicken) will surprise and delight children. Questions are directed at readers: Is a square with two round eyes and semicircle feet a “frog or square or green?” Why, all of the above! The text possesses a pleasing rhythm and subtle rhymes, positively begging to be read aloud: “circle next to berry / square by bear by sweet // blue up high / pig down low / yellow in between.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Satisfying, engaging, and sure to entertain the toddlers at whom it is aimed. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-79720-508-3
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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