A sure winner for multiple readings day after day.
A day in the life of a toddler is experienced through an exploration of the opposites that exist in the tot’s world.
Early morning, awake in the crib, this child is eager to start the day while parents sleep. “Asleep. Awake. Daybreak!” Morning routines—getting dressed, eating breakfast, and sibling play—precede the day’s outing: “Off. On. Here. Gone. / Laugh. Cry. Hi! Bye.” The day’s contrasting descriptions continue with these one-word sentences arranged in rhymes as this interracial (Asian/White) family of four and their dog leave their city row house to take a walk to the park. They meet friends, play, buy ice cream, walk home, prepare dinner, take baths, read stories, and finally go to sleep. It is a very full day expressed as differing observations and feelings. “Short. Tall” describes first the children and next the family they meet, while “Hungry. Full” sums up the before- and after-dinner experiences. The lovely watercolor-and-ink illustrations extend and expand the minimal text into a complete view of a toddler’s average day with its satisfactions and disappointments. Trying to keep up with their older sib, this determined toddler is bound to try to do more than they might be ready for, as they topple off at the bottom of the slide. “Up. Down. Smile! Frown.” Toddlers will easily recognize and relate to this readable snapshot of a typical day’s activities.
A sure winner for multiple readings day after day. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-58089-878-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt.
A love song from parents to their child.
This title will seem quite similar to the many others about parents’ deep love for their children. The text is wholly composed of first-person declarations of parental love, and it’s juxtaposed with illustrations of the child with one or both parents. It’s not always clear who the “I” speaking is, and there are a few pages that instead use “we.” Most sentences begin with “I love you more” phrasing to communicate that nothing could undermine parental love: “I love you more than all the sleepless nights…and all the early, tired mornings.” The accompanying pictures depict the child as a baby with weary parents. Later spreads show the child growing up, and the phrasing shifts away from the challenges of parenting to its joys and to attempts to quantify love: “I love you more than all the blades of grass at the park…and all the soccer that we played.” Throughout, Bell’s illustrations use pastel tones and soft visual texture to depict cozy, wholesome scenes that are largely redundant of the straightforward, warm text. They feature a brown-haired family with a mother, father, and child, who all appear to be white (though the father has skin that’s a shade darker than the others’).
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0652-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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