Sweet and uncomplicated.
Best friends Bear and Mouse go through their day, from waking up to playing in the park.
Bear and Mouse live together and, though portrayed as anthropomorphized animal children, fend for themselves with no adults under the same roof. Sweet illustrations in cheery colors introduce readers to the pair. The expectation of interactivity in the book is set right from the cover, where children can manipulate a slider to make the sun pop out at the top of the book. There is a slider or flaps on every double-page spread, all easily manipulated on the extra-sturdy pages. The story itself is simple and straightforward, with no surprises: Bear and Mouse wake up, have breakfast, put their coats on, get on a bus to go to the park, and then play in the park. Companion book Bear & Mouse Time for Bed has the friends getting ready for bed. Here again, children will have sliders to move and a flap to open as Bear and Mouse take a bath, have a tooth-brushing race, put on their pajamas, read a bedtime story, and get into bed, wishing each other a good night. Little ones may find comfort in the simple routines that many will recognize and feel familiar with.
Sweet and uncomplicated. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68010-680-0
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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