The book amply demonstrates that “hugging makes us family.” (Picture book. 2-5)
One family’s reunion is celebrated through many types of hugs.
As with many books on the topic, this one surveys the many types of hugs in the world: “Some hugs nuzzle nose to nose. / Some hugs lick and tickle toes.” But in contrast, Moore and Woolf offer readers something more. As the pages turn, the Asian nuclear family of a mom, dad, and two children anticipates and prepares for what is clearly a long-awaited reunion with family that has flown in: a grandmother and another couple with their own three children. “Some hugs wait for years and years. // Some hugs cradle falling tears.” The excitement is catching, and readers would need hearts of stone not to be moved by the family togetherness on display. They have a picnic feast (both typical American picnic food such as hot dogs and hamburgers and Asian dishes like dumplings and noodles) and spend the evening catching fireflies, which then—troublingly—provide a night light for the five children cozied up in a backyard tent. (The top is not visible, so readers will go on wondering about air holes.) The loosely cartoony illustrations are filled with charming details that give clues as to what is happening, and by the end, readers will be searching out hugs of their own.
The book amply demonstrates that “hugging makes us family.” (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-284954-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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