Quibbles won’t prevent readers from diving in and marveling
Follow a silver submarine through grand adventures in this French import.
When readers open the durable, oversized cardboard pages they’re immersed in gorgeous, sweeping digital renderings of colorful ocean ecosystems. There’s only a smattering of plot: A tiny submarine plunges underwater to explore but is whisked off course by a violent storm, ultimately traveling to the Arctic, along coral reefs, down to the ocean’s dark trenches, and back up to the sunny surface. Conversationally narrated as though readers are riding along, the text names the species depicted and provides clues to help locate and identify most from among the busyness, though some specimens are missing any contextual hint and would benefit from a label or key. The teeny, thin type is also tricky to see against the large pages. An accompanying, digitally accessible ocean soundtrack is nicely atmospheric but also suffers from vagueness, as without track markers, it’s challenging to match the page with specific movements. But the immersive, multilayered art teeming with intricately drawn crowds of sea creatures set on ethereal backgrounds and the feeling of grand scale admirably capture the majesties under the sea. Variegated background shades of blue and green make the colorful underwater flora and fauna glisten, especially the metallic-inked silver sub and dynamic neon pink and Day-Glo yellow highlights.
Quibbles won’t prevent readers from diving in and marveling . (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3356-7
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The lack of real excitement will make these helpers fade from memory like sirens on a distant road.
Part emergency adventure, part reassurance that help is on the way—youngsters fascinated by vehicles with sirens will be attracted to this board book.
Straightforward, declarative text and fanciful, somewhat futuristic pictures describe “a big beautiful world, filled with awesome adventures.” The second spread previews the helpers and their vehicles with profile views of six types of vehicles against a clean white background. The final spread shows front views of the same six rescue vehicles. In between, spreads focus on three different emergencies. In a busy spread headlined “Uh-oh, an accident,” readers see a police car, an ambulance, and a tow truck, while a police helicopter hovers overhead. “Uh-oh, a storm!” shows the water-based versions of emergency vehicles against a rain-gray background. “Uh-oh, a fire!” focuses on firefighters, with police and EMTs playing supporting roles. All the vehicles are staffed by smiling animal characters reminiscent of Richard Scarry’s Busytown creatures but without the whimsy of those classics. The final text proclaims that “helpers…are the ones who save the world.” The wordy text and detailed pictures make this board book most suited for older toddlers intrigued by emergency vehicles, but the placid delivery is out of sync with the notion that the depicted world is in peril.
The lack of real excitement will make these helpers fade from memory like sirens on a distant road. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0599-8
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ho-hum.
A riff on the familiar lullaby depicts various animal parents, and then a human father, soothing their sleepy little ones.
An opening spread includes the traditional first verse of the titular lullaby, but instead of depicting a human baby in a treetop cradle, the accompanying illustration shows a large tree as habitat to the animals that are highlighted on subsequent pages. First the perspective zooms in on a painterly illustration rendered in acrylics of a mother squirrel cuddling her baby with text reading “Rock-a-bye Squirrel, / high in the tree, / in Mommy’s arms, / cozy as can be.” In this spread and others the cadence doesn’t quite fit with the familiar tune, and repeated verses featuring different animals—all opening with the “Rock-a-bye” line—don’t give way to the resolution. No winds blow, no boughs break, and the repetitive forced rhythm of the verse could cause stumbles when attempting a read-aloud. The final image of a human father and baby, whose skin tone and hair texture suggest that they are perhaps of South Asian descent, provides pleasing visual resolution in a book with art that outshines text.
Ho-hum. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3753-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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