A simple but sweet introduction.
Welcome, Baby Rabbit.
This festive board book introduces positive characteristics attributed to those born in the Year of the Rabbit as the titular character—the fourth animal in the Chinese zodiac—prepares for and celebrates Lunar New Year. Baby Rabbit is kind and helps friends decorate red banners with greetings and wishes. They are smart and peaceful, figuring out how to fly an oversized dragon kite. Baby Rabbit is also creative, cheerfully making dumplings with a parent. As Baby Rabbit and their loved ones gather around the table for a meal with traditional New Year’s foods, Baby Rabbit pours tea for the others—they are “funny, polite, and generous.” A spread shows how the Five Elements—water, metal, earth, fire, and wood—interact with the zodiac; for instance, those born in 2011 are metal rabbits, “kind and enthusiastic.” As a primer, this book offers minimal astrological context. Characteristics are fairly simplistic, though they do work as uplifting affirmations to young readers born in the Year of the Rabbit. Hsu’s illustrations, filled with smiling faces, match the mood and incorporate welcome details to the Lunar New Year festivities. Adjectives are set in various colors for emphasis. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A simple but sweet introduction. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4998-1342-5
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
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)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 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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