Enchanting artwork, tranquil sound effects and the narrator’s soothing voice all add to the serenity. But the interaction...
This bilingual (French/English) springtime rhyme is lovely and charming in many ways, but underneath, it’s a scant offering that may leave readers wondering, “Is that all?”
Much like a flip book, this app is illustrated by hundreds of lush watercolor paintings that have been combined to create animation. But this isn’t a book to flip through. Rather, there is a pull-down with an introductory poem and three simple icons on the home screen that correspond to three spring months: April, May and June. Tap one, and a new screen launches that reveals another brief poem. Swiping the bottom of the text box upward causes it to temporarily disappear while animation commences—a mother duck and her ducklings paddling in a stream; a cardinal flaps up into an apple tree; a spaniel and a mustachioed bloodhound go boating. Each vignette holds an interactive nugget. In April, the duck and her ducklings line up to face readers, and the line of corresponding lilies behind them represents the notes on the scale. In perhaps the app’s most engaging feature, tapping out any melody on the lilies causes the ducklings to mimic it. In May, touching peonies causes them to bloom, each revealing a different bee. A selective glossary adds little.
Enchanting artwork, tranquil sound effects and the narrator’s soothing voice all add to the serenity. But the interaction and poetry are so fleeting, this app feels like an incomplete sentence. (requires iPad 2+) (iPad storybook app 2-5)Pub Date: May 18, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Actialuna
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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
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