Breathe deep, and turn the page
High-contrast paper-collage illustrates a catalog of air’s uses.
Individually, the images may require some help to parse, but collectively they expand viewers’ understanding. “I need fresh air,” declares the text, while on the opposite page a human figure appears to be opening French doors onto a clear, blue sky. In the following spread, a brown-skinned face, lips open, in profile dominates the verso, with trees in the background and text that explains “I need air to breathe.” In the third, birds with wings outstretched are the visuals that accompany “I need air to soar over the mountains.” Moving thus from the metaphorical to the concrete, the book effectively engages its very young readers with the unseen, barely felt element that surrounds them. Air is used to blow up balloons, to fly kites, and to fill scuba tanks; in this last spread, the pale blue sky modulates to a more saturated blue to represent the underwater environment while a wet-suited diver’s exhalations are represented by bubbles. The final spread, which depicts a small silhouetted figure next to a belching factory smokestack, brings readers full circle with the indisputable assertion that “I need clean air.” This clever sequencing both brings home to adults the book’s environmental message and gives toddlers ways to understand one of their most basic necessities.
Breathe deep, and turn the page . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9970587-1-0
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Home Grown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Is this a nature book? Not really. But with beautiful young faces respecting living creatures, it is a great choice for...
With expressions of wonder and delight, little toddlers explore nature in its tiniest forms, seeing critters and flowers with the curiosity of new eyes.
McPike and Barton have created a companion book to their comforting bedtime read-aloud, Little Sleepyhead (2015). This outing repeats the same rhythmic couplets, bringing together the simplest of flora and fauna with a racially diverse group of toddlers. Barton uses digitized pencil sketches to capture the wide-eyed, breath-holding feeling of seeing a caterpillar for the first time. The children’s delight in the snails, bluebirds, and bunnies is a gentle introduction to quietly observing nature. "Little bitty chipmunks, chattering all the day / Little bitty ladybug always comes to play." (Here a ladybug crawls across a giggling toddler’s forehead.) The illustrations are open and breezy with white space, and the spare text printed in different colors keeps the focus simple. While the repeated phrase of "little bitty" provides a consistent thread from beginning to end, the uniqueness of every child is clear. Yet even the wide range of skin tones and hairstyles is secondary to the universal feeling of wonder.
Is this a nature book? Not really. But with beautiful young faces respecting living creatures, it is a great choice for toddler libraries. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17255-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
Put on those gardening gloves; the fruits of this labor beckon.
A young girl watches her garden grow.
Though she's a bit older than the typical board-book audience, her self-reliance makes her an appealing character for toddlers struggling to assert their independence. The strategic use of sturdy flaps provides both peekaboo fun and structure to the storyline. “Yellow daisy. / Red rose. / A bud blooms. / [lift flap] A flower grows.” Some of the interactive elements clearly connect objects to one another (shovel, pail), while other pairings review the progress of the blossoming outdoors. The child enjoys the results of her hard work (smelling a flower has never been so sweet) and waters her lush plants with her pint-sized watering can. Varied vocabulary extends the text. “Harvest carrots / . . . squash and peas. / [lift flap] Pollinated by the bees.” Perhaps due to their having been printed on recycled paper with soy inks, the matte sides of the flaps tend to be darker than the rest, which are glossy.
Put on those gardening gloves; the fruits of this labor beckon. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-307-93041-5
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
