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LITTLE BIG NATE DRAWS A BLANK

Name: LITTLE BIG NATE DRAWS A BLANK
Author: Lincoln Peirce
ISBN: 978-1-5248-5178-1

by Lincoln Peirce ; illustrated by Lincoln Peirce ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019

It’s slight, but it’ll be enjoyed by little siblings who have been looking for their own personal intros to Big Nate

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Young Nate brainstorms different animals he might draw before falling asleep.

In this junior version of Peirce’s popular Big Nate series, a gap-toothed, preschool-age Nate sees possibilities in his “brand-new box of crayons.” In silly rhyming couplets with a pleasant cadence, Nate lists and imagines animals he might draw but quickly rejects his ideas: a toad as “too bumpy!” or a cricket as “too jumpy!” On the final page, Nate fulfills the title’s wordplay and drifts off having “draw[n] a blank,” never committing to any drawing at all. Since it features a well-known character, drawn in Peirce’s familiar cartoon style, this board book will have a built-in fan base waiting to fall in love with little Big Nate. Unfortunately, the ending falls flat, making the book come across more as a series of illustrations designed around a forced joke than a worthy story of its own. Still, it’s a visual treat: Nate’s face is wonderfully expressive, and there’s a sweetly unpolished feeling about the drawings Nate imagines, which mimic a child’s spontaneity. Young readers will be drawn to the comical touches, like a “too chilly” penguin wearing a knitted wool cap or a “too inky” octopus, all in bold saturated colors. Alas, the “too silly” monkey with bananas in its ears will alienate readers familiar with the degrading, historical association of monkeys with people of African descent.

It’s slight, but it’ll be enjoyed by little siblings who have been looking for their own personal intros to Big Nate . (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5248-5178-1

Page Count: 12

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
NEXT STOP, SUPERSTARDOM!
by Lincoln Peirce

- BOOK REVIEW
DESTINED FOR AWESOMENESS
by Lincoln Peirce ; illustrated by Lincoln Peirce

- BOOK REVIEW
BATTLE OF THE BODKINS
by Lincoln Peirce ; illustrated by Lincoln Peirce

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GOODNIGHT, NUMBERS

by Danica McKellar ; illustrated by Alicia Padrón ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2017

The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon.

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This bedtime book offers simple rhymes, celebrates the numbers one through 10, and encourages the counting of objects.

Each double-page spread shows a different toddler-and-caregiver pair, with careful attention to different skin tones, hair types, genders, and eye shapes. The pastel palette and soft, rounded contours of people and things add to the sleepy litany of the poems, beginning with “Goodnight, one fork. / Goodnight, one spoon. / Goodnight, one bowl. / I’ll see you soon.” With each number comes a different part in a toddler’s evening routine, including dinner, putting away toys, bathtime, and a bedtime story. The white backgrounds of the pages help to emphasize the bold representations of the numbers in both written and numerical forms. Each spread gives multiple opportunities to practice counting to its particular number; for example, the page for “four” includes four bottles of shampoo and four inlaid dots on a stool—beyond the four objects mentioned in the accompanying rhyme. Each home’s décor, and the array and types of toys and accoutrements within, shows a decidedly upscale, Western milieu. This seems compatible with the patronizing author’s note to adults, which accuses “the media” of indoctrinating children with fear of math “in our country.” Regardless, this sweet treatment of numbers and counting may be good prophylaxis against math phobia.

The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon. (Picture book. 2-4)

Pub Date: March 7, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-101-93378-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
DOUBLE PUPPY TROUBLE
by Danica McKellar ; illustrated by Josée Masse

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TIMES MACHINE!
by Danica McKellar ; illustrated by Josée Masse

- BOOK REVIEW
BATHTIME MATHTIME SHAPES
by Danica McKellar ; illustrated by Alicia Padrón

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IN THE WIND

by Elizabeth Spurr ; illustrated by Manelle Oliphant ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016

A gentle outing for children who are ready for stories of everyday life rather than just objects to name.

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A brief rhyming board book for toddlers.

Spurr's earlier board books (In the Garden and At the Beach, both 2012; In the Woods, 2013) featured an adventuresome little boy. Her new slice-of-life story stars an equally joyful little girl who takes pleasure in flying a new kite while not venturing far off the walkway. Oliphant's expressive and light-filled watercolors clearly depict the child's emotions—eager excitement on the way to the park, delight at the kite's flight in the wind, shock when the kite breaks free, dejection, and finally relief and amazement. The rhymes work, though uneven syllable counts in some stanzas interrupt the smooth flow of the verse. The illustrations depict the child with her mass of windblown curls, brown skin, and pronounced facial features as African-American. Her guardian (presumably her mother) is also brown-skinned. It is refreshing to see an African-American family settled comfortably in a suburban setting with single-family homes and a park where the family dog does not need to be leashed.

A gentle outing for children who are ready for stories of everyday life rather than just objects to name. (Board book. 2-4)