May appeal to kids who like visual puzzles but a bit too two-dimensional to generate much excitement.
Triangles combine to hint at various creatures.
The book is composed of a sequence of colorful spreads whose imagery consists of collaged shapes on backgrounds with a texture resembling soft paper. Forests are represented by green triangles of varying hues, the ocean by blue shapes, and the savanna by orange and brown. Each spread contains a constellation of different-sized equilateral triangles representing a few features of an animal—nose, eyes, ears, horns, tusks—hinted at in a brief rhyming riddle. Some of the animals are relatively easy to guess (a fox, a toothy shark), but some are not. In some cases the conceit is far-fetched, as in “The rings around my eyes / might seem like a disguise. / Can you see me?” There is a clear disconnect in depicting a raccoon’s mask as triangles, as there is in showing an owl’s round eyes as triangles. In some images the mystery animal is represented in profile, which may be difficult for some children, and in others the shapes are so sparse as to be highly challenging to interpret. The focus on triangles may limit the interest the book generates for children once they’ve guessed which animal is represented. Those inclined to give up will regret the absence of a picture key.
May appeal to kids who like visual puzzles but a bit too two-dimensional to generate much excitement. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5248-5372-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
Caregivers eager to expose their children to fine art have better choices than this.
From “Apple” to “Zebra,” an alphabet of images drawn from museum paintings.
In an exhibition that recalls similar, if less parochial, ABCs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (My First ABC, 2009) and several other institutions, Hahn presents a Eurocentric selection of paintings or details to illustrate for each letter a common item or animal—all printed with reasonable clarity and captioned with identifying names, titles, and dates. She then proceeds to saddle each with an inane question (“What sounds do you think this cat is making?” “Where can you find ice?”) and a clumsily written couplet that unnecessarily repeats the artist’s name: “Flowers are plants that blossom and bloom. / Frédéric Bazille painted them filling up this room!” She also sometimes contradicts the visuals, claiming that the horses in a Franz Marc painting entitled “Two Horses, 1912” are ponies, apparently to populate the P page. Moreover, her “X” is an actual X-ray of a Jean-Honoré Fragonard, showing that the artist repainted his subject’s face…interesting but not quite in keeping with the familiar subjects chosen for the other letters.
Caregivers eager to expose their children to fine art have better choices than this. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5107-4938-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
A timely message in the wrong format.
This book delivers a message on the power of collective action.
As the book opens, a child looks at a lone star shining in the sky: “One star shines as distant light.” After the turn of the page, the child now sees what looks like the Milky Way: “And when stars shine together, they make our galaxy.” The book goes on to give a number of similar examples to reinforce the message of the power that comes from working together, ending with: “One of us can speak up for justice / And when we speak up together we create a world of possibility.” In the current atmosphere of strife and discord that divides our country, this is certainly a welcome message. Perhaps, though, the board-book set is not the right audience. As a picture book aimed at a slightly older group with an information page at the end explaining some of the illustrations, it might work well. As it is, however, some of the visual references will merely puzzle a toddler—and some adults. For example, a group of angry-looking people raising their fists and singing together may not look like “harmony” to a toddler—unless they know about the New Zealand haka. There is an unexplained frog motif that runs through the book that may also mystify readers. Nagara’s brilliant illustrations portray people of many ethnic backgrounds.
A timely message in the wrong format. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64421-084-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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