A charming bilingual offering.
Beloved Mexican TV character Chapulín Colorado presents everyday onomatopoeia in both English and Spanish.
Dressed in his iconic superhero outfit, el Chapulín Colorado (the Red Grasshopper) is a well-known Mexican TV character from the 1970s, still familiar to children today through eternal reruns. It is not necessary, though, to be familiar with the character to appreciate the book. Colorful, clean-lined illustrations and uncluttered pages center on the onomatopoeia and the bungling superhero. Children will take delight in finding out that these words that mimic the sounds of the things described are heard differently in the two languages: Knuckles on a door go “Knock Knock!” in English and “¡Toc toc!” in Spanish. A companion volume, Ellen, introduces the solar system as Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina astronaut, flies or floats by each planet. The illustrations and presentation in this book follow the same esthetic as the Chapulín Colorado book. The rhyming text informs readers of some characteristic of each planet in bilingual (English / Spanish) format: “Uranus got me a little dizzy / rotating on its side, it looks a little tricky. // El planeta Urano me mareó un poco / girando de lado, parece algo loco.” Though it is not necessary to know who Ellen Ochoa is to follow the book, it was a missed opportunity to not have included something about her in the book.
A charming bilingual offering. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-19-47971-41-7
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Lil' Libros
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Surprisingly good fun
A deceptively simple primer on shapes becomes a spot-the-difference game.
The first double-page spread looks elementary enough. On verso, a red triangle sits atop a pink circle, which balances on a blue square; the text reads “triangle / circle / square.” On recto, a large pink circle rests on a blocky, orange rectangle, which teeters on the point of a purple triangle: “circle / rectangle / triangle.” But with the turn of the page, readers see, “triangle / elephant?! / circle” on verso and “elephant / elephant / rectangle” on recto; the layout is identical to the first spread, with the three shapes or objects presented in vertical towers. It gets even sillier as pages turn, with the introduction of a “boat!” and then three more; a smiling “face!” (another appears to be somber); and then lemons, buses, birds, black hats, and a fish. Each time a new variable is introduced, it is italicized and exclamation-punctuated, prompting animated reads. The pacing ensures that no new element appears too quickly for little readers to assimilate it, and the relatively high page count facilitates their joining in the game by the end. All the elements appear to be hand-drawn, with comfortably fuzzy edges, and they are all laid out on white space for maximum discernibility. The objects that are not shapes are represented elementally and consistently enough that little ones should be able to spot them with ease.
Surprisingly good fun . (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: May 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7148-7411-1
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Phaidon
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
A swell visual puzzle.
Little readers tour the town.
This pleasant board book is all about the sights and sounds of a small, middle-class town. Little readers thumb through various street scenes, visiting the park, the beach, a train station, and more. Each scene offers a few visual puzzles for little ones. A giant high-heeled shoe blends in with the slides on the playground. An oversized piece of toast sits among the houses on a street. Readers are encouraged to spot what doesn’t belong as well as to count items, spot differences, trace fingers on paths, and more. Humans are absent from the busy photo collages, but a small teddy bear in blue overalls acts as guide, and other animals and birds (and a dinosaur) add further visual interest. A similar title, Building Site, is concurrently published and uses this same concept and visual style to tour a construction site; its guide is a toy figure with light-brown skin wearing a hard hat. Caregivers will find either book an excellent companion for car rides, doctor visits, and shopping trips.
A swell visual puzzle. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4654-5599-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
