A beautiful and important addition to any collection of body books.
A joyous celebration of all bodies.
In loosely rhyming and rhythmic text, this nonfiction picture book describes parts of the human body. Hands are “washing, holding, clapping, folding, dining, signing,” while toes are “rainbow, yummy, squishy, splashy.” Some entries are precise and others more conceptual, and different body parts receive different treatment. There are “eyes that see and eyes that are blind” and “ears that hear and ears that are deaf” while shoulders are “hiding in a gown” and “rid[den]…up and down.” Genitals are referred to as such, and readers learn that “different people have different kinds,” and “whatever you call whatever you have, your genitals belong to you.” Illustrations show a tremendously diverse array of bodies, including people with visible disabilities, queer and trans people (one a shirtless transmasculine person with top surgery scars), Black people with vitiligo, and people with hijabs, piercings, and tattoos. Each page shows people smiling, and there are unique depictions of loving families and connections. The extremely simple text introducing basic body parts, combined with kid-friendly yet sophisticated illustrations, allows for all different kinds of children to see themselves and their communities reflected. An afterword by the author explains the history of the original book (published in 1986) and the reasons behind the updates.
A beautiful and important addition to any collection of body books. (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77321-472-6
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
Only gnashnabs would cavil at this eximious display of lexicographical largesse.
More labial lollipops for logomanes and sesquipedalian proto-savants.
The creators of Big Words for Little Geniuses (2017) and Cuddly Critters for Little Geniuses (2018) follow up with another ABC of extravagant expressions. It begins with “ailurophile” (“How furry sweet!” Puns, yet), ends with “zoanthropy,” and in between highlights “bioluminescent,” growls at a grouchy “gnashnab,” and collects a “knickknackatory” of like locutions. A list of 14 additional words is appended in a second, partial alphabet. Each entry comes with a phonetic version, a one- or two-sentence verbal definition, and, from Pan, a visual one with a big letter and very simple, broadly brushed figures. Lending an ear to aural pleasures, the authors borrow from German to include “fünfundfünfzig” in the main list and add a separate list of a dozen more words at the end likewise deemed sheer fun to say. Will any of these rare, generally polysyllabic leviathans find their way into idiolects or casual conversations? Unlikely, alas—but sounding them out and realizing that even the silliest have at least putative meanings sheds liminal light on language’s glittering word hoards.
Only gnashnabs would cavil at this eximious display of lexicographical largesse. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-53445-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Caregivers eager to expose their children to fine art have better choices than this.
From “Apple” to “Zebra,” an alphabet of images drawn from museum paintings.
In an exhibition that recalls similar, if less parochial, ABCs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (My First ABC, 2009) and several other institutions, Hahn presents a Eurocentric selection of paintings or details to illustrate for each letter a common item or animal—all printed with reasonable clarity and captioned with identifying names, titles, and dates. She then proceeds to saddle each with an inane question (“What sounds do you think this cat is making?” “Where can you find ice?”) and a clumsily written couplet that unnecessarily repeats the artist’s name: “Flowers are plants that blossom and bloom. / Frédéric Bazille painted them filling up this room!” She also sometimes contradicts the visuals, claiming that the horses in a Franz Marc painting entitled “Two Horses, 1912” are ponies, apparently to populate the P page. Moreover, her “X” is an actual X-ray of a Jean-Honoré Fragonard, showing that the artist repainted his subject’s face…interesting but not quite in keeping with the familiar subjects chosen for the other letters.
Caregivers eager to expose their children to fine art have better choices than this. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5107-4938-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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