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MUSEUM SHAPES

Name: MUSEUM SHAPES
Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN: 0-316-05698-7

by Metropolitan Museum of Art ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2005

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Once again, the collections of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art serve up instantly recognizable images of ten forms, each identified by word, shape and images. Square, circle, rectangle, triangle, oval, arch, crescent, diamond, heart and star—proceeding one might say in order of complexity—are introduced first by a question (“What shape is the wheel?”) on a page where patterns of the grey outline of the shape float. Opposite, a full-page image of a work of art displays the shape prominently. On the next spread, the shape is named—CIRCLE—opposite four more pieces of artwork highlighting the circle shape. These are always drawn from many cultures and techniques—in the case of the circle, an American lithograph, an Indian mandala, a Japanese woodblock print, an American quilt and a Sienese altarpiece. Full information about each piece of art is at the back. A marvelous gift for parent and child, promising many hours of visual stimulation and enjoyment. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-316-05698-7

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
NOAH'S ARK
adapted by Linda Falken ; illustrated by Metropolitan Museum of Art

- BOOK REVIEW
MUSEUM ABC
by Metropolitan Museum of Art

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: June 9, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
CON POLLO
by Jimmy Fallon & Jennifer Lopez ; illustrated by Andrea Campos

- SEEN & HEARD
Jimmy Fallon Christmas Book Coming This Fall

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TEN LITTLE FISH

by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Bruce Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2004

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This charming, colorful counting tale of ten little fish runs full-circle. Although the light verse opens and closes with ten fish swimming in a line, page-by-page the line grows shorter as the number of fish diminishes one-by-one. One fish dives down, one gets lost, one hides, and another takes a nap until a single fish remains. Then along comes another fish to form a couple and suddenly a new family of little fish emerges to begin all over. Slick, digitally-created images of brilliant marine flora and fauna give an illusion of underwater depth and silence enhancing the verse’s numerical and theatrical progression. The holistic story bubbles with life’s endless cycle. (Picture book. 3-5)