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TICK-TOCK

Name: TICK-TOCK
Author: Lena Anderson
ISBN: 91-29-64074-1

by Lena Anderson & illustrated by Lena Anderson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 1998

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This bedtime story, populated with a variety of toy-like animals, will strike a chord with readers accustomed to wearing out their caregivers. A lyrical, brief text flows with no false notes as the hours tick by on each spread: ``Tick-tock, it's one o'clock,/Who wants to go to the park with Will?''—a dog with floppy ears and beret, walking upright. The children are a duck, a hedgehog, an elephant, and a pig, all smaller than Will. They climb a tree and ``when Hedgehog falls, we've all had enough,'' so the sobbing creature can be consoled. There is a little picnic, drawn with effective details—Will holds one child while reaching to help another, a familiar pose for any parent, although Will is positioning a glass so the elephant's trunk can go inside. Back at home, the little ones are settled into an array of makeshift beds, and, as the hours slip toward midnight, they put Will through the paces until he falls asleep in his chair. Gentle humor and affection inform every page of this childlike story, where soft watercolor drawings are perfectly accomplished with a minimum of line. The book will sing to those who love Jill Murphy's A Quiet Night In (1994), and translates beautifully to uses in foster-care and group-home situations. (Picture book. 1-4)

Pub Date: April 10, 1998

ISBN: 91-29-64074-1

Page Count: 28

Publisher: R&S/Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
HEDGEHOG’S SECRET
by Lena Anderson & illustrated by Lena Anderson

- BOOK REVIEW
STINA'S VISIT
by Lena Anderson & illustrated by Lena Anderson

- BOOK REVIEW
BUNNY BOX
illustrated by Lena Anderson

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S SPRINGTIME

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2018

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.

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Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.

This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)

Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0

Page Count: 16

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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SPOOKY POOKIE

by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

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One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.

It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)