An uneven but lively book for kids who love construction vehicles.
A little boy engages in imaginative sandbox play with his front-end loadertoy in Clarke’s picture book.
Young children’s fascination with construction vehicles, whether toys or the real thing, is an evergreen picture-book theme. This entry focuses on the sheer pleasure a child takes in playing with a favorite toy “digger.”Preschooler Elliot, in his backyard sandbox, speaks the phrase that’s repeated on each page of the rhyming text: “Digger Digger Digger / Big Scoop Dump!” In somewhat stilted verse, caused partly by occasionally reaching for rhymes with dump (stomp, rump, clump, dromedary’s hump), Elliot imagines himself inside the digger, excavating huge piles of sand and rock from a vast site: “Deeper in the dirt, / Steady he would dig, / Down, deep and pleasing / The hole grew ever big.” Visually, the full-color book has a pleasingly homemade look. (Clarke previously teamed up with illustrator Amendolagine on his first children’s book, Harriet’s Egg, in 2021.) Elliot’s exaggeratedly wide eyes are off-putting, but the border-to-border watercolor illustrations are vibrant, featuring fun details for children to spot, and the text is clear and readable. In the book’s genuinely sweet coda, Elliot, tired out from play, snuggles into his mother’s arms and is toted off to bed.
An uneven but lively book for kids who love construction vehicles.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73730-172-1
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© 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
