Toddlers ready for simple stories will find better choices among regular picture books.
This very busy board book seems to want to be a toy.
Sturdy, wipeable board pages and layered cutouts make a dense, leafy forest habitat for an elephant preparing for his birthday party. The illustrations give a good sense of the rain forest, but the plants’ multiple shades of brown, green, and orange disguise the other animals almost too completely. Finding the gazelle, monkey, and parrot hiding in the greenery could be a challenge for toddlers who do not yet know what to look for. Two extra-thick board-over-foam interior pages provide a nesting place for an elephant cutout that acts as a sort of one-piece puzzle designed for children to play with as they read; little ones will likely grab the elephant and not want to let it go. Young children most in need of board books may not sit still for the somewhat wordy story. Elephant's repeated question, “Do you know that today is an important day?” could serve as a refrain, but slight rewording each time he asks makes it difficult for toddlers to anticipate the question and join in. Companion title Here Comes Leo Lion has many of the same problems, plus a rather heavy-handed lesson, in which Lion learns, rather quickly, that boasting about his wildness will not win him friends.
Toddlers ready for simple stories will find better choices among regular picture books. (Board book.1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4549-1581-2
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.
An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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