The little terrier from the sublimely surreal Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug (2007) has moved to board books, a format well-suited to his colorful, graphic simplicity. Here Bow-Wow tugs a “Red!” sock off a human foot, revealing an “Orange!” one and so on to “Purple!” and, finally, naked tootsies: “Lick!” In each spread, the left-hand image depicts Bow-Wow beginning to pull the sock, the right-hand image showing the sock mostly pulled off with the next-colored sock beneath it and a quizzical expression on Bow-Wow’s face. Simple enough for babies to work on the concept, weird enough to appeal to parental readers again and again. Companion Bow-Wow 12 Months Running (ISBN: 978-0-15-206558-4) is a little on the complex side for the baby half of the audience. (6-18 mos.)
Pub Date: April 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-15-206564-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Duck Is Dirty ($4.95; August 26, 1996; 16 pp.; 0-374-31885-9): This book recounts the modest tribulations of Duck during a potentially pleasant stroll. It starts raining, he gets his feet muddy, is buffeted by winds, papered by leaves, and takes a header into the muck. A dip in the pond and Duck is good as new. Kitamura coaxes an appealing story from this 19-word trifle; one, moreover, that will ring familiar with the intended audience. The misleadingly simple artwork is graphically sophisticated, with Duck coming across as a winsome geek. Companion volumes are Squirrel Is Hungry (0-374-37171-7), Cat Is Sleepy (31223-0), and Dog Is Thirsty (31806-9). (Board book. 1-3)
Pub Date: Aug. 26, 1996
ISBN: 0-374-31885-9
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996
This color-concept book from newcomer Asbury has much going for it. The spare text (``I am Bonnie and this is my cat, Bluebonnet'') and the two-color illustrations (black and blue on a bed of white) are simple, direct, and oddly comforting. Bonnie recounts a day in her life: She introduces readers to her home, cavorts with her pals in a tree fort and swimming pool, sups, watches TV, reads her dad a bedtime story. For the most part, Asbury has chosen the vehicles for his color with a nod toward familiarity—blue water, blueberry pie, blue eyes (small, ghoulish buttons)—and sometimes with real invention: the flicker of the cathode ray, the glow of moonlight. The blue tree, on the other hand, is discordant. Two companion volumes, Rusty's Red Vacation (ISBN 0-8050-4021-8) and Yolanda's Yellow School (- 4023-4), take Asbury's color message aptly into those realms. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8050-4022-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1997
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
