A snooze.
A lullaby sends Belle and her stuffed bunny, Boo, off to sleep.
The book opens with the sentient toy Boo stargazing from a treehouse window while Belle, a white girl with a brown bob, sings a lullaby. She’s in pajamas and ready for bed herself. It becomes unclear whether the ensuing text is in her voice or an omniscient narrator’s as she and Boo make their way to dreamland though a variety of settings evoked by the rhyming verses. Succeeding double-page spreads show scenes of a diverse group of children parading off to bed, with Belle and Boo always present. Some settings in this British import show a mismatch between text and art (“cowboys way out on the prairie” are in a cactus-studded desert), while others disappointingly reinforce stereotypes: a scene about dancers seems to omit all boy characters except for a single blond, white boy at center stage while nine girls stand in the wings, and then tipis show up in a nighttime scene with the children reading around a campfire surrounded by tents of many sorts. There’s no call from the text for their inclusion nor any cultural specificity that suggests a Plains Indian presence or context, which problematically renders the structures playthings verging on fantastic props. Throughout, the rhyming text seems a bit drawn-out, and illustrations verge on the saccharine.
A snooze. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-40833-708-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Without a consistent child's voice, this runway romp fizzles.
A young fashionista's play proves less inspired than her posh designs.
Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery for this daughter, as Birdie plays dress-up in her mother's stylish attire. She twirls in princess dresses, adopts a movie-star identity in sunglasses and teeters in stilettos. Her little white pooch, Monster, serves as a stylish sidekick, even posing as a hat-stand for one of her mama's beautiful, two-toned accessories. Birdie's fashion-conscious mother, never viewed face-on, showcases her sense of daring design with mile-high shoes and slim, crossed legs. Though the book seems initially to be a light trip into dressing-up, Birdie's childlike exuberance veers abruptly into contrived self-awareness. “But there's nothing better than just being me!” The stylish design features splashes of paint and tissue-paper ribbons; a cutout Birdie pops in her exaggerated high heels on the fashion-forward cover. Textured accents and varied patterns highlight the finest form of fashion.
Without a consistent child's voice, this runway romp fizzles. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-20111-7
Page Count: 14
Publisher: LB Kids/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There are not enough words available to save this jampacked selection from bursting-at-the-seams busyness.
A picture dictionary without much rhyme or reason.
This oversized German import covers a vast range of concepts and topics, both familiar and foreign to young children. Tiny, clean illustrations of objects array themselves on a white background, sometimes including winsome animal characters. From ordinary household items to things seen in the out-of-doors to common foods to modes of transportation to musical instruments to sports to amusements to emotional concepts, this book tries to cover everything. Some items may be recognizable but are unlikely to come up in casual conversation (runner beans), while others (beret, lawn bowling) seem hardly necessary as toddler vocabulary. Slight variations in terminology make for unwarranted repetition; instead of just one bed on display, toddler, single and double beds all make an appearance. Vocabulary provides highly specific terms (“push bike”). Concepts covered include numbers, shapes and emotions, while an alphabet review in an eye-pleasing but developmentally baffling sophisticated design rounds out the comprehensive selection. With some 20 items to the page, spreads overwhelm rather than illuminate.
There are not enough words available to save this jampacked selection from bursting-at-the-seams busyness. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-8775-7905-9
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
