This introduction to Yosemite may work well in conjunction with a visit, but as a book to learn about what is small, it...
A bear and a chickaree enjoy small treasures in Yosemite National Park.
As a companion to So Big! Yosemite (2017), this board book features the same question-and-answer format accompanied by Iwai’s illustrations, this time featuring tiny natural resources found in Yosemite National Park: the chickaree squirrel, a sequoia cone, an alpine shooting star flower, and others. On each recto is the question with the object shown on its own. On the verso of the next double-page spread is the unchanging answer (“SO SMALL!”) and the object shown with a jovial black bear for size contrast. “How small is a Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog? // SO SMALL!” Including the bear in each answer illustration gives some sense of scale (the granite pebble is shown in the bear’s paw, for instance), but it may be difficult for toddlers to get an idea of just how small the object in question actually is without direct familiarity. It does not help that some of the objects, the frog, for instance, are shown in different sizes on different pages, and there is no comparison between familiar objects, most toddlers never having gotten up close and personal with a black bear.
This introduction to Yosemite may work well in conjunction with a visit, but as a book to learn about what is small, it misses the mark. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-930238-86-2
Page Count: 15
Publisher: Yosemite Conservancy
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 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.
