Getting ready to face the day has never been so fun.
Creative design elements enhance the story of a young rabbit getting dressed.
When Rabbit awakens, only her head and part of a foreleg are visible through a die-cut hole that allows readers to peer through the foliage of the first spread onto the right-hand page of the second. After the page turn, the scene shifts from outside to inside Rabbit’s cozy home; the die cut has now flopped to the opposite side to show the sun shining through from the first spread onto her home. Her full body now visible, Rabbit wears no clothing, but as an anthropomorphic animal, there’s no sense of silliness or shame over her nudity as she declares, “I must get dressed” and immediately notes that she can find only one sock. This problem propels the rest of this joyfully interactive book as Rabbit seeks her sock, finding other garments along the way. Each item is first spied through additional die cuts from one page turn to the next, and the outfit she assembles would make Ian Falconer’s Olivia proud. One by one, Rabbit dons a teal pompom hat found under the bed, a pink tutu from the wardrobe, a green plaid scarf that she spies over the tub, and, finally, her lost yellow-and-orange-polka-dotted sock, found in the bushes outside by friends Squirrel and Mouse.
Getting ready to face the day has never been so fun. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2025
ISBN: 9781536241303
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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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