A basic exploration of assorted bodily sounds, including—and perhaps featuring—those considered “rude.”
In keeping with the simplicity of their 2011 releases (Max’s Temper Turnaround; Splotch: The Center), the developers use plain, geometrical characters and minimalist features to demonstrate the various sounds that our bodies make. We can whistle, clap, snap, hum and tap our feet. "[Mumbling] some" provides a transition from more socially acceptable noises to those that might be considered impolite: yelling, shrieking, snorting and snarling, to name only a few. The story builds, however, to a churlish finish by featuring burping, belching and farting—the last of which is deemed rude, gross, indecent and… fun. Each bodily utterance is demonstrated by tapping the characters that introduce them, and when it comes to flatulence, readers are encouraged not to do it in public (or at least to say “excuse me” if they do). All characters congregate on the final page to offer their own expressions of what it sounds like to pass gas, a finale that is sure to be a hit with the potty humor crowd (good luck getting the kids to move on).
A no-frills, sound-effects–driven “story” that has a decent rhythm, reliable interactive elements, simple navigation and a splash of age-appropriate vulgarity thrown in for good measure. (iPad storybook app. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Curious Circus
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
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Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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