While underwhelming in its exploration of textures, it does succeed as a playful introduction to animals of the African...
Youngsters can go on safari in this tactile venture.
A friendly, brown-skinned “guide” waves to readers on the opening double-page spread and offers an invitation to explore the savanna. Nine tableaux follow with a textural element embedded in or affixed to every other recto. There is an encounter with a “fuzzy” zebra with soft black stripes, a “bumpy” crocodile with embossed, green vinyl for skin, and a “furry” lion mane created with flannel. One to two sentences of introductory text, written in a cordial tone, hovers above the scene, and each animal is identified with a large caption in an appealing type that has a handwritten feel. Wilson’s art is endearing, and critters look quite cuddly in her childlike style and soft, watercolor palette of pale green, yellow, blue, and brown. The adventure ends with the guide hunkering down for the night in a tent made with a canvas fabric swatch. Given that the title and the cover (with jeep tires to touch) promise a texture-rich experience, the project is a bit of a letdown as the tactile elements appear only on every alternating page.
While underwhelming in its exploration of textures, it does succeed as a playful introduction to animals of the African savanna. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4867-1459-9
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Flowerpot Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
Handsome but so sneaky as to be frustrating.
Youngsters are invited to find the object or creature that doesn’t fit in with a similar grouping of animals.
In arrays spread out on (mostly) double-page spreads, a rocking horse hides among a drove of real horses, a cat sits with a variety of breeds of dogs, and so on. The project is wordless except for the introductory text that introduces the game with echoes of Sesame Street: “One of these things is almost like the others….” Some of the groupings are quite clever: a straight belt is placed amid a row of curvy snakes, a mechanical crane is perched between a living crane and two other long-legged birds, and the sole human figure, who looks to be a shirtless white male, is the only being to walk on two legs in a primate troop. To assist guessers, the final double-page spread shows all the outliers from the subsequent groupings. Using only yellow, purple, and a deep and dusky brown that is created when these two shades are mixed, Contraire uses stencils to create his figures against a creamy white background. While many of the animals and objects are instantly recognizable, the contrast of the mostly yellow critters against white backgrounds makes identification tricky for the board-book set. And while the book design is handsome, the lack of color variation in the art gives the offering a one-note feel.
Handsome but so sneaky as to be frustrating. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: May 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7148-7422-7
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Phaidon
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
Definitely not your usual ABC book, this sophisticated approach will best appeal to science teachers and scientifically...
Ever wonder what the Earth looks like from space? This highly unusual and scientific alphabet book will intrigue those sky gazers who see shapes in the clouds.
A beginning “Note to Parents and Teachers” provides an explanation for the idea for the book that led to the search for alphabet letters in satellite images of Earth: “A few years ago, I noticed a cloud of smoke over Canada that had the shape of a V.” The full-page photos bleed off the page without any text, amplifying the drama of the visuals. A sandbar acts as the back of the D of Morocco’s Marchica Lagoon; Y is formed by the convergence of the Tigris and Great Zab rivers in Iraq. Some images are more distinct than others, ranging from swirls of color to squiggly lines, making discovery part of the process for readers. The author is a science writer for a NASA website, providing credibility. A five-page legend in the back cites the locations photographed and dates when the photos were taken. Backmatter has a two-page map that locates each of the letters, FAQs on both images and science, and a glossary. Similar in concept, ABC: The Alphabet from the Sky, by Benedikt Gross and Joey Lee (2016), is more accessible to young readers learning their alphabet.
Definitely not your usual ABC book, this sophisticated approach will best appeal to science teachers and scientifically minded children. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9428-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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