A pleasant multilingual introduction.
Learn the names of exuberantly collaged plants and animals in seven different languages.
Bold botanical collages made from a loud assortment of recycled papers and newsprint dominate this board book’s largely white pages. Among the well-chosen assortment of plants are some that may be intimately familiar to many North American readers, like sunflower or apple tree, but there are also intriguing, lower-profile selections, such as baobab tree, mimosa, or snake plant, which might provide opportunities to learn about new flora and fauna. Befitting its towering status, the sequoia tree must be turned to portrait orientation, an enjoyable feature. Numbered and corresponding with a key on the back cover, the English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Esperanto versions of the plant species are printed about the collage, albeit a bit haphazardly. The three languages that do not use the roman alphabet are also presented in romanized form; there is no pronunciation guide. Companion title Animals shares the same art style and features 17 different species. Occasionally in both books, the collaged paper is a tad busy, making the art feel slightly muddied, and some of the animals’ eyes, made of cut newsprint letters, have an eerily uncanny feel (looking at you, deer!). Extra touches of whimsy, such as a rainbow chameleon enthusiastically hunting a hopping cricket, make it satisfying to read.
A pleasant multilingual introduction. (Board book. 1-5)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73622-643-8
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Blue Dot Kids Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A book about engineering notable mostly for its illustrations of diverse characters. (Board book. 1-3)
Babies and engineers have more in common than you think.
In this book, Alexander highlights the unlikely similarities between babies and engineers. Like engineers, babies ask questions, enjoy building, and learn from their mistakes. Black’s bold, colorful illustrations feature diverse babies and both male- and female-presenting adult characters with a variety of skin tones and hair colors, effectively demonstrating that engineers can be any race or either gender. (Nonbinary models are a little harder to see.) The story ends with a reassurance to the babies in the book that “We believe in you!” presumably implying that any child can be an engineer. The end pages include facts about different kinds of engineers and the basic process used by all engineers in their work. Although the book opens with a rhythmic rhyming couplet, the remaining text lacks the same structure and pattern, making it less entertaining to read. Furthermore, while some of the comparisons between babies and engineers are both clever and apt, others—such as the idea that babies know where to look for answers—are flimsier. The book ends with a text-heavy spread of facts about engineering that, bereft of illustrations, may not hold children’s attention as well as the previous pages. Despite these flaws, on its best pages, the book is visually stimulating, witty, and thoughtful.
A book about engineering notable mostly for its illustrations of diverse characters. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31223-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
There’s charm in this picture book, but it’s a bit of a wash.
A rhyming introduction to a variety of weather phenomena.
“So how about that weather?” A ubiquitous small-talk topic gets the board-book treatment in this cheerful informational text. Enthusiastic, colorful illustrations are a highlight, and beaming, anthropomorphic kawaii-style weather formations are eye-grabbers. Who doesn’t love a grinning rainbow? Children with various skin tones pictured throughout the book are equally pleasant and include a wheelchair user. If the book is agreeable to look at, it's less so to listen to. The oft-stilted rhymes aren't intuitive, and clunkers like “when a cloud gets dark and heavy with rain it's called a cumulonimbus which is such a funny name” take a few tries to get right when read aloud. Adding insult to injury, the line breaks are sometimes jarring, making the rhyme even more daunting. Most of the main sections contain appropriately digestible bits of introductory information conveyed in a bubbly, enthusiastic tone, with snow described vividly as “raindrops that freeze into crystals.” However, sometimes there is a mismatch between the text and its intended audience. Some topics—seasons, clouds, rain—with their easily visible and experiential elements, seem perfectly suited for toddlers; others, like humidity and hurricanes, are more of a stretch. A “Fun Fact” section discussing matters such as the Earth’s axis and climatology versus meteorology is more appropriate for early-elementary learners. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
There’s charm in this picture book, but it’s a bit of a wash. (Informational board book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-953344-47-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Genius Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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