An engaging vocabulary booster that repays careful examination.
A tot spends a day with her parents.
Frankie is a little girl in a big world. This oversized board book introduces little readers to that world and, by extension, perhaps to their own. As Frankie explores double-page spreads of her house, backyard, neighborhood, and more, little ones are encouraged to look for specific items, such as the “(friendly) ghost” in the attic and the colored pencils at the grocery store, in each scene. Objects are labeled in small, lowercase serif type while the book’s narrative is delivered in a bold, uppercase, and multicolored sans-serif. The large pages contain a lot of small details, and little ones won’t be able to resist leaning in close to absorb the colorful scenery. Whimsical touches include a masked “bunny bandit” in the backyard and a sneaky kitty who is represented mostly by the parts that peek out. The book works well as a vocabulary expander, but it may well be just as effective in the back seat on long car rides. Purple-haired Frankie is biracial, with a pale-skinned, pink-haired mom and brown-skinned, black-haired dad. Her world is a comfortable, multicultural, suburban one of stand-alone houses and tidy streets.
An engaging vocabulary booster that repays careful examination. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2824-2
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
An excellent starter book for those looking to raise their children in a bilingual environment.
Niñas y niños learn their ABCs en español.
A is for ardilla (squirrel) and E is for erizo (hedgehog) in this pastel-colored board book. Each page features a different animal or object with a large, scratchily drawn uppercase letter in the top-left corner. (All the text appears to be hand-drawn and frequently displays irregular use of upper- and lowercase conventions.) The upper-right corner of the page spotlights the item’s Spanish and English names, with Spanish printed large on top and English in a smaller hand beneath. The illustrations are warm and sweet, presenting rounded, friendly figures colored with pastel hues. Even inanimate objects, such as the wafle (waffle) and the uvas (grapes), are given smiling faces and welcoming body language. There are separate entries for N for “niña/niño” (“girl/boy”) and Ñ for ñu (translated as “wildebeest” rather than “gnu”). It appears that X (xilófono) and Y (yak) are as troublesome for abecederaries in Spanish as in English. After the alphabet is finished, the backmatter provides the pronunciation of each letter for non–Spanish speakers and phonetic spelling for each creature along with the further introduction of the sounds ll, ch, and rr. The book is handsomely bound in faux hardcover style, boasting sturdy pages and smooth textures.
An excellent starter book for those looking to raise their children in a bilingual environment. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63322-283-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Walter Foster Jr.
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
A swell visual puzzle.
Little readers tour the town.
This pleasant board book is all about the sights and sounds of a small, middle-class town. Little readers thumb through various street scenes, visiting the park, the beach, a train station, and more. Each scene offers a few visual puzzles for little ones. A giant high-heeled shoe blends in with the slides on the playground. An oversized piece of toast sits among the houses on a street. Readers are encouraged to spot what doesn’t belong as well as to count items, spot differences, trace fingers on paths, and more. Humans are absent from the busy photo collages, but a small teddy bear in blue overalls acts as guide, and other animals and birds (and a dinosaur) add further visual interest. A similar title, Building Site, is concurrently published and uses this same concept and visual style to tour a construction site; its guide is a toy figure with light-brown skin wearing a hard hat. Caregivers will find either book an excellent companion for car rides, doctor visits, and shopping trips.
A swell visual puzzle. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4654-5599-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
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