by Nick Ackland ; illustrated by Jackie Clarkson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019
Camping can be fun, but this outing isn’t worth the trip.
Board books about camping are hard to find, so this book die cut in the shape of an RV is initially appealing.
Croc, Lion, Giraffe, and Bear are cute stuffed animals, but they’re sadly unprepared for camping. Hardly are they on their way but they stop to buy snacks for the road. When they arrive at the campsite, they go shopping again at the camp store. Their only contact with nature is gathering wood for a fire. (Experienced campers know that’s often a no-no, but there’s no mention of this.) When their campfire is interrupted by rain they shelter in the tent that Croc bought at the camp store. Why don’t they just sleep in the RV? The cheerful reptile driving the bright blue camper van shows up on every page, but the overall lack of consistency will confuse readers. Instead of seamless spreads, each page is a new picture drawn from a different perspective and to a different scale. This is most disorienting on the pages about the grocery store. The frequent positioning of the same characters across the gutter from one another is developmentally unsound; toddlers will not recognize them as the same characters depicted twice but will rather think that they are separate characters. The wordy text, crowded pictures, and disjointed storyline ultimately disappoint. Simultaneously publishing are Birthday Bus, Safari Park, and Train Trip.
Camping can be fun, but this outing isn’t worth the trip. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-948418-82-9
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Clever Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Nick Ackland
BOOK REVIEW
by Nick Ackland ; illustrated by Jennie Bradley
BOOK REVIEW
by Nick Ackland ; illustrated by Bella Bee
by Lauren Crisp ; illustrated by Thomas Elliott ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 2021
A disappointing twist on a popular theme. More gimmick than engaging.
This noisy board book is designed to thrill tots fascinated with all things construction.
A tactile backhoe digger is center stage on each of the five cutout pages, complete with flaps. Brief rhyming text describes the machine’s actions as it works throughout the day. Animal characters engaged in manual labor or operating other machinery—a bulldozer, crane, road roller, and dump truck—describe more work that goes on at a construction site in small speech bubbles. Finding the mouse in every scene adds to the fun. On each page, a little bird sporting a hard hat invites young builders to press various parts of the silicone digger to activate a range of distinct sounds. The digger’s track pad sounds different from the sound of its arm moving dirt. The problem is that the digger itself is passive; the track pad and arm don’t actually move. The machine stays in the same place on every spread. The caution light beeps but doesn’t light up. Savvy kids will quickly realize that all the sounds are accessible from the first spread without having to turn the pages. The sound is the most engaging part of the book, but with only five sounds, this feature won’t hold most youngsters’ attention for long.
A disappointing twist on a popular theme. More gimmick than engaging. (Novelty board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68010-684-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
Share your opinion of this book
More by Lauren Crisp
BOOK REVIEW
by Lauren Crisp ; illustrated by Thomas Elliott
BOOK REVIEW
by Lauren Crisp ; illustrated by Thomas Elliott
BOOK REVIEW
by Lauren Crisp ; illustrated by Thomas Elliott
by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Irene Chan ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 5, 2018
Leave this developmentally inappropriate title on the shelf.
A board book for the toddlers of Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.
As with Baby Loves Quarks! (2016) and its series companions, Spiro attempts to explain a topic too complex and abstract for toddlers. The bright-eyed brown-skinned cartoon child on the cover is inviting enough. But it’s hard to imagine the real baby who will be able to follow her example: “Baby takes three steps to the right, three steps forward, and three steps to the left.” The text can tell readers that “This pattern of steps is called an algorithm” when repeated every time the child wants to go to the toy box, but that does not mean babies can understand, much less replicate, the behavior of a computer program. As with many tech-oriented toys designed for gifted tots, a toy train is used to illustrate coding. Later pictures show other machines that rely on unseen computer code to function. There is nothing factually wrong here. And yes, parents and caregivers can follow the book’s example by inserting the language of science and coding in conversation. But 20 pages of oversimplified explanations of theoretical concepts, no matter how attractively packaged, will not translate to understanding until the child is past the concrete-operations stage of development—and even gifted toddlers just aren’t there yet.
Leave this developmentally inappropriate title on the shelf. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58089-884-3
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Greg Paprocki
by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Irene Chan
More by Ruth Spiro
BOOK REVIEW
by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins
BOOK REVIEW
by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Teresa Martínez
BOOK REVIEW
by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Irene Chan
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.