Sure to result in choruses of ooohs, coos, and mews.
A panorama of pets, with big tabs to pull and furry or textured patches to fondle.
Dozens of small pets crowd the ultrasturdy white pages or peer from behind heavy acetate windows. If not every single one comes with a well-anchored piece of synthetic fur or fuzz or can be made to peek out or waggle a fin by pulling a big, geared-for-toddlers tab, all—even the hermit crab and the sticky snails—are bright and cute as buttons. Except for mentioning that “small” potbellied pigs “get too big,” Van Fleet doesn’t address the practicalities (or ethics) of keeping as pets some of the less-domesticated birds, reptiles, and other creatures on display. In fact, the text is written for rhythm more than it is for literal meaning: “Gnaw pet, / Chew pet, / Peck pet, / Crunch! / Gulp pet, / Nibble pets—munch, munch, munch, munch, munch!” In this tableau, a chinchilla, a degu, a parrot, a tortoise, a goldfish, a mouse, and a guinea pig all nosh, the pull-tab wiggling the guinea pig’s head as it nibbles. All, from guinea pig and goldfish to veiled chameleon, ornate horned frog, and sun conure are identified in a grand pop-up assemblage at the end. The earthier underpinnings of the team’s similarly designed Color Dog (2015) may be absent, but the sheer diversity of the animal cast will delight diapered audiences.
Sure to result in choruses of ooohs, coos, and mews. (Informational novelty. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8247-0
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Beautiful illustrations lack spark but will still make readers long to beachcomb.
Crisp, meticulously accurate illustrations of shells pair with predictable rhyming couplets.
Locating a perfect, unbroken shell is one of life’s small delights, and this board book shares that sense of wonder. Opening on a child with tousled black hair listening to a seashell, the narrative drifts through various elegant, ink-drawn shells, from the crowd-pleasing “pearl shell” (a mussel) or “round shell” (a sand dollar) to the lesser-known “winged shell” (a piddock) or “spotted shell” (a junonia), before closing with a different child gazing at a hermit crab claiming its own shell. All children pictured have pale skin. The rhyming text, which incorporates the word shell in each two-word couplet, rolls smoothly enough off the tongue, but some information is lacking. There’s no context to explain the “lei shell” necklace in the key labelling the shells, and why have northern cowrie shells been designated “play shell[s]”? That same feeling of vagueness brings down the illustrations. While the naturalistic hues are luminous against spare white backgrounds, the precisely drawn shells seem untethered from sand or seashore. Decoratively arranged sprigs of seaweed surrounding the shells are attractive but static, making the shells feel like an artfully curated museum exhibit. Matte pages are lovely to touch but will bend easily, and the edges are sharp, suiting them for older children.
Beautiful illustrations lack spark but will still make readers long to beachcomb. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-56846-354-4
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Tots may enjoy flipping the emojis, but most of the scenarios presented miss opportunities to foster emotional literacy.
Youngsters are invited to explore their reactions to a variety of things through photo illustrations and spinning emojis affixed to the book.
A rectangular, die-cut hole appears down the outside of each page of the book to make space for a sturdy plastic pole with three, flat, circular wooden beads threaded through it. Each side of these beads bears a different cartoon facial expression, including happy, sad, angry, surprised, calm, and confused, and young readers can flip them to suit their moods. The project starts off with one wordy paragraph, but most of the text is composed of direct queries and positive affirmations. Between the die-cut rectangles, clear photos of people, animals, and situations appear on sparsely illustrated backgrounds. The children are babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary children of diverse racial presentations along with sundry adults, including a stereotype-defying Black woman dentist. One Asian toddler uses hearing aids, and one of the White children looks to have Down syndrome. Only one double-page spread asks children how they feel about various situations, such as going to school, the dentist, the doctor, and to a birthday party. The rest of the queries ask children how they feel about weather, foods, activities, and animals; they may not generate particularly rich emotional conversations. The project ends with a cluster of children making various expressions and a Mylar mirror embedded in the final page with an invitation to answer the question: “How do you feel today?”
Tots may enjoy flipping the emojis, but most of the scenarios presented miss opportunities to foster emotional literacy. (Novelty board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68010-655-8
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
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