Should be helpful in many a household expecting a new baby.
A month-to-month gestational guide for young siblings-to-be.
Beneath the heading “1 month!” a bubbly little kid happily announces: “We’re having a baby!” Over the next several double-page spreads—one for each month of growth—the new baby’s development is explained using various familiar foods to approximate the size of a baby developing in the womb. These comparisons help to make the information accessible to young children. From the first month, when the developing baby is the size of a poppy seed, to the ninth month (the size of a pineapple), children can lift the flap on Mommy’s belly to see the fetus developing. The last spread predictably shows the newborn baby together with Mommy and the proud sibling: “Hello, baby!” The text is simple and direct: “Mommy tries an apple and tells me our baby is this size.” For children ready for a little more information, the inside of the flap provides additional detail: “The baby’s face muscles are working now, which means it can open and close its mouth.” The two main characters are mother and child, with no other family members mentioned or depicted, thus leaving the book unconstrained by family type. Both mother and child have literally yellow skin, but the developing fetus is pink. The mother has black hair and the child red hair.
Should be helpful in many a household expecting a new baby. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7382-5
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt.
A love song from parents to their child.
This title will seem quite similar to the many others about parents’ deep love for their children. The text is wholly composed of first-person declarations of parental love, and it’s juxtaposed with illustrations of the child with one or both parents. It’s not always clear who the “I” speaking is, and there are a few pages that instead use “we.” Most sentences begin with “I love you more” phrasing to communicate that nothing could undermine parental love: “I love you more than all the sleepless nights…and all the early, tired mornings.” The accompanying pictures depict the child as a baby with weary parents. Later spreads show the child growing up, and the phrasing shifts away from the challenges of parenting to its joys and to attempts to quantify love: “I love you more than all the blades of grass at the park…and all the soccer that we played.” Throughout, Bell’s illustrations use pastel tones and soft visual texture to depict cozy, wholesome scenes that are largely redundant of the straightforward, warm text. They feature a brown-haired family with a mother, father, and child, who all appear to be white (though the father has skin that’s a shade darker than the others’).
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0652-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
This TV rerun in board-book form has nothing new to offer.
Peppa hopes to join her classmates in a Halloween pumpkin competition in this adaptation of a story from the popular British television program Peppa Pig.
With the help of Granny and Grandpa Pig, Peppa turns her giant pumpkin, which is the size of a compact car, into a jack-o’-lantern. The trio is flummoxed when it comes time to transport the pumpkin to the competition, so they call on Miss Rabbit and her helicopter to airlift the pumpkin to the festivities as Peppa and her grandparents ride inside. Peppa arrives just in time for the contest and wins the prize for best flying pumpkin. The scenes look as if they are pulled directly from the television show, right down to the rectangular framing of some of the scenes. While the story is literally nothing new, the text is serviceable, describing the action in two to three sentences per page. The pumpkin-shaped book and orange foil cover will likely attract youngsters, whether they are Peppa fans or not.
This TV rerun in board-book form has nothing new to offer. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-33922-2
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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