Though a lack of clarity and coherence in Please sabotages the intended lesson, at least Thank You is a solid choice for...
This board book featuring a finger puppet focuses on teaching tots to say “please.”
A smiling bear finger puppet pokes his fuzzy head through the pages of this title, encouraging readers to animate the action. Unfortunately, the storyline is ambiguous at best. Bear goes about his day being rebuked for asking for various things without saying “please”: “Busy Little Bear says, / ‘Can I play with that train?’ // What’s the magic word, Bear? / Now let’s try again!” Suddenly, on the last double-page spread: “Happy Little Bear says/ ‘Thank you everyone. // Now I know the magic word—learning has been fun!’ ” The illustrations show his friends all around him, some of them carrying items he’s asked for along the way. It’s unclear exactly what’s happened here and how Bear’s learned his lesson. Companion volume Thank You is more cohesive and, consequently, successful. In this volume, a little finger-puppet Puppy is celebrating his birthday, and he remembers to say “thank you” to his friends for his gifts, for letting him win some games, for his birthday cake, and for attending his party.
Though a lack of clarity and coherence in Please sabotages the intended lesson, at least Thank You is a solid choice for teaching toddlers to express gratitude. (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: March 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58925-546-3
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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