A sweet addition to the toddler bookshelf.
Ducky Duckling finds all the activities it can do in the rain make it happy.
In her signature style of cheery, vibrantly colored illustrations outlined in black, Cousins introduces a new character to her repertoire in the form of bright yellow Ducky Duckling. Readers soon find out that when Ducky Duckling feels happy it says (in bold, display type), “Quack, quack, quack!” And that is exactly what the happy little duckling says at the end of every double-page spread. “Oh, goody, hooray! / It’s raining today. / I’m going to find / my friends to play. / Quack, quack, quack!” In rhyming text accompanied by eye-catching illustrations, readers will find Ducky hopping with a frog, squirming with a worm, hugging a bug and a slug, playing with swans, shaking feathers in the rainy weather, and otherwise just having fun in the rain. Readers will observe what Ducky does not: that the raindrops decrease in number spread by spread. Then: “Oh, no! / The rain has stopped. / No more drips. / No more drops.” As Ducky feels sad and goes in search of Dad, the mallard male encourages Ducky to follow the lead of the butterflies and have fun “We’ll quack together / whatever the weather. / Hop on my back and… / QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!”
A sweet addition to the toddler bookshelf. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9844-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.
A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.
Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-611-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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