Books about the seasons abound. This one’s mentions of specific holidays may limit its audience.
A rhyming look at all the fun to be had during a year of seasonal changes.
An apple tree anchors the book, its branches visually portraying each of the seasons: “Glittering sunbeams make a golden crown / for a tree that is wearing a blossom gown.” Daigneault’s illustration here shows the tree heavily laden with pinkish blossoms, the top of the tree tinged yellow from the rays of the sun. Opposite the tree, a groundhog emerges. This sets up a pattern, as Edwards introduces an animal and how it experiences the season (in summer, birds feed their chicks in the nest, for example) before two double-page spreads show how children enjoy it. In autumn: “Racing the field, taking aim, / Helping your team to win the game.” A Hallmark holiday is included in each season: Easter (hunting eggs and bunny treats), the Fourth of July, Halloween, and Christmas (leaving out cookies for Santa). This book is best shared with an adult, as text on the introductory spreads is in cursive, and children may need help with some of the heightened language and imagery on these pages, gorgeous though they are. The illustrations are realistic and portray both beautiful nature scenes and children enjoying the suburban outdoors (only three activities take place indoors). The kids have varied skin tones and hair textures, though they do not appear to be economically diverse.
Books about the seasons abound. This one’s mentions of specific holidays may limit its audience. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58536-403-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pass.
The traditions and history of one of Mexico’s most important holidays are introduced in this latest of Eliot’s Celebrate the World series.
From setting up the flower-festooned altars to decorating the calaveras, the preparations depicted involve entire communities over several weeks. Characters in cowboy hats, sombreros, and baseball caps place the final touches on skeletons in full lucha libre regalia or spangled mariachi outfits. However, instead of accurately using Mexico’s name for the holiday, Día de Muertos, Eliot uses the English back-translation, “Día de los Muertos,” as is common in the U.S. even though the story evidently takes place in Mexico. Also, aside from stating that the celebration “is an ancient tradition,” there is no mention of its Indigenous, pre-European/Christian roots nor does the book actively distinguish between Día de Muertos and Halloween. The first-person narration vacillates between child and adult perspectives. “We do all this to celebrate the beauty of life and death rather than mourn it.” Gutierrez’s mixed-media illustrations are convulsive, crowded panes of frenetic activity. Exaggerated facial features border on stereotypical caricatures—snouts and bug eyes abound. Contributing to the crowded page design is the unfortunate choice of board rather than picture-book format. Consequently, the initial perception is that this series is geared toward toddlers, when it is the school-age child who would most benefit from the information in this book.
Pass. (Board book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1515-7
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
A feast…at least for the eyes, and much better for the teeth.
It’s all about the colors in this board-book version of the virally popular “rainbow explosion” cake.
The cake, which stars in many online videos and slide shows, is actually all about the sprinkles, evoked here with a combination of multihued spinners or sliders and hundreds of tiny holes punched into the sturdy cover and stock. Kassem, a New York City specialist baker, recaps its creation…without specific ingredients but step by step in the simplest language: “Pour it! / Mix it! // Color it!” The images are abstract enough that the result never really looks like food, but young digerati are unlikely to care as they’re directed to choose colors for each of the six layers, pull a tab to watch them rise in the oven, then see all but the top layer hollowed out before being stacked in rainbow order (sans indigo) and finally filled with a column of sprinkles that will pour out in a climactic rush (“Surprise!”) when the finished cake, its outside likewise sprinkle encrusted, is sliced. Chavarri’s simple illustrations flash with oversaturated hues, each succeeding double-page spread being somehow brighter than the last one, until the final uncomplicated pop-up unfolds in a grand shower of confetti and sprinkles. Budding chefs may find the recipe-based approach in Lotta Niemenen’s Cook in a Book series more to their taste, but for sheer energy and dazzle, this is hard to beat.
A feast…at least for the eyes, and much better for the teeth. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3746-6
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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