A simple, playful story underscoring the importance of valuing oneself and others.
Young readers learn about the most valuable treasure in Schustrin’s picture book.
The narrator explains that somewhere on Earth “exists a secret treasure / That is available to all.” Equipped with binoculars and magnifying glasses, a diverse group of kids with varying skin tones explores a diamond mine, bodies of water, and other places, looking for the mysterious treasure. The narrator offers clues about it, such as how it’s “more valuable than gold” and the “wildest dreams” of “1000 sleeping queens,” shown slumbering in bedazzled crowns. As the kids examine colorful jewels with magnifying glasses and scope out mountains with binoculars, the narrator explains that there’s “one sure thing to do” if one wants to locate the treasure: “Look in the mirror / That secret treasure is YOU!” This lively tale highlights the importance of positive self-esteem while reminding readers that all human beings are precious and worthy. Lucci’s cartoonlike, multihued illustrations feature busy scenes with sparkly diamonds; saturated, gradient skies; and cheerful critters. Some scenes effectively literalize the narration; for example, after the kids visit a bank, the text explains that the secret treasure makes “the world’s biggest banks / With all the cash in their stash” seem worthless; the image shows a truck unloading money onto a trash pile.
A simple, playful story underscoring the importance of valuing oneself and others.Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Ava Bear Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wonderful, indeed
A love song to baby with delightful illustrations to boot.
Sweet but not saccharine and singsong but not forced, Martin’s text is one that will invite rereadings as it affirms parental wishes for children while admirably keeping child readers at its heart. The lines that read “This is the first time / There’s ever been you, / So I wonder what wonderful things / You will do” capture the essence of the picture book and are accompanied by a diverse group of babies and toddlers clad in downright adorable outfits. Other spreads include older kids, too, and pictures expand on the open text to visually interpret the myriad possibilities and hopes for the depicted children. For example, a spread reading “Will you learn how to fly / To find the best view?” shows a bespectacled, school-aged girl on a swing soaring through an empty white background. This is just one spread in which Martin’s fearless embrace of the white of the page serves her well. Throughout the book, she maintains a keen balance of layout choices, and surprising details—zebras on the wallpaper behind a father cradling his child, a rock-’n’-roll band of mice paralleling the children’s own band called “The Missing Teeth”—add visual interest and gentle humor. An ideal title for the baby-shower gift bag and for any nursery bookshelf or lap-sit storytime.
Wonderful, indeed . (Picture book. 1-4)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37671-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
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