Amusing, offbeat and packed with interaction, this is an alphabet app that teaches and charms.
Educational and entertaining, this alphabet exploration is packed with activities, quirky illustrations and a few inside jokes for adult readers.
It's more activity app than narrative text; users interact with the content via an alphabet menu in which each letter is presented in a different type. Clicked individually, the letters are first depicted as common objects that are shaped like the letters. Although these objects should be relatively easily recognizable by the target audience, they are not the usual alphabet-book fare. For example “T” is a gavel, and “O” is a round clock face. A perky narrator, Little Bee, announces each letter and corresponding object slowly and clearly. Next the selected letter is presented as a component of six potential activities, which provide the opportunity and guidance to draw, paint or connect the dots to create the selected letter. Users also have the opportunity to trace the letter within a related word or play a game in which they are challenged to locate the letter within a themed illustration. There is also a “friends” section, which presents objects, animals and people that begin with the selected letter. The friends range from an apricot to a Zen master, which keeps it fresh; however, it is disappointing that roles such as nurse and teacher are predictably cast as female and the physician is male.
Amusing, offbeat and packed with interaction, this is an alphabet app that teaches and charms. (iPad alphabet app. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Lisbon Labs
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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