Rich with learning experiences, Berkes’ book elegantly combines art, reading, counting and music with the natural sciences.
Based on Berkes and Canyon’s 2007 book, this new interactive counting and sing-along app is a snazzy introduction to the fauna of the rain forest.
Centering around the lush and colorful illustrations, each page introduces a new species with information on how the animal parents care for their young and often revealing a bit about their environment: The poison dart frogs appear in the bromeliads so important to their survival, for instance. The text is written in rhyme to fit the familiar tune and can be heard sung or read by the author; there is also a “Read to Myself” mode. Simple animations allow readers to set the animal babies in motion. Butterflies flutter and marmosets swing, each in their own stratum of the jungle. Emphasizing the many layers of habitat in the rain forest, the appended “Find the Babies” counting game shows where in the jungle each of the species makes its home. Further information on each animal, plus photos, follows, as do bios of each of the creators. The illustrator’s discussion of her techniques should appeal to young artists. It’s not quite as flawlessly interactive as the developer’s previous app, Over in the Ocean (2012); there are some bugs with page turns, and background music and jungle sounds often don’t play in “Read to Myself” mode.
Rich with learning experiences, Berkes’ book elegantly combines art, reading, counting and music with the natural sciences. (iPad informational app. 3-8)Pub Date: March 6, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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