Cheerful fun for careful tots.
A little white mouse endeavors to make a mercurial brown bear feel happy.
Said mouse encourages readers to do something silly, sing a song, or blow bubbles to lighten the mood. A turn of the page slides vertical panels into place to change the expression on Happy Bear’s round face, visible through a circular die-cut hole, from worried or angry back to his open-mouthed grin. When the bear starts crying, the mouse wonders who can make him happy again, and, on the final page, readers see that it is the soothing presence of his mommy, who greets him with a hug. Ballesteros’ illustrations employ pleasant graphics with rounded edges and flat planes of color in muted tones, keeping the focus at all times on the main event. Publishing in October 2018, a companion book called Wake Up Santa! is also written by Thoms but is illustrated by Pintachan, who uses similarly sanguine imagery with a retro feel that harkens back to a 1950s graphic sensibility. This holiday title uses the same face-changing mechanism to show a white Santa Claus and entourage waking up to prepare for the annual Christmas Eve toy delivery. (Three elves appear to be white; one has brown skin and black hair.) While the face-changing gimmick will undoubtedly delight, it is probably best suited to the upper-end of the board-book age range, as the pages are cardstock and thinner than what is typically found in this format.
Cheerful fun for careful tots. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2474-9
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an...
A little boy exults in his new role as big brother.
Rhyming text describes the arrival of a new baby and all of the big brother’s rewarding new duties. He gets to help with feedings, diaper changes, playtime, bathtime, and naptime. Though the rhyming couplets can sometimes feel a bit forced and awkward, the sentiment is sweet, as the focus here never veers from the excitement and love a little boy feels for his tiny new sibling. The charming, uncluttered illustrations convincingly depict the growing bond between this fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked, smiling pair of boys. In the final pages, the parents, heretofore kept mostly out of view, are pictured holding the children. The accompanying text reads: “Mommy, Daddy, baby, me. / We love each other—a family!” In companion volume I Am a Big Sister, the little boy is replaced with a little girl with bows in her hair. Some of the colors and patterns in the illustrations are slightly altered, but it is essentially the same title.
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an older sibling can do to help. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-68886-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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