Chick’s two oft-repeated words, sweet and cute, accurately sum up this tale.
A little chick brings gifts to newborn animals.
So many babies have been born, and Chick wants to visit them all. Baby bunnies with tiny puffball tails get a colorful bunting as a present—and a hug. A baby squirrel, high up in a treetop nest, gets a nut—and a kiss. Each animal gets a simple treat along with praise for learning and growing. “Hi, little monkey! Are you able to move across the trees, just like your mommy? Well done! Here’s a delicious little banana!” Chick understands—being tiny as well—that these babies are on their own journeys of discovery, and Chick wants to cheer them on as much as possible. Simple line drawings set against uncluttered backdrops that are dotted with colorful flowers add a delicate, joyful touch to Chick’s expedition. It’s certainly not geographically sound—Chick sees a wide variety of animals, including elephants and penguins, seemingly all in one day—but at least the minimal landscapes do change appropriately. There isn’t a dynamic story arc, with Chick simply walking from one family to the next, but the tiny fowl’s spindly legs carry a great big heart. Though not, strictly speaking, a board book, this offering features a padded cover and rounded, card-stock pages that suit it to a toddler audience.
Chick’s two oft-repeated words, sweet and cute, accurately sum up this tale. (Picture book. 1-4)Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-60537-624-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
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
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Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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