“Down, down goes the sun, / And down in the sea, / Fish find a safe place to hide. // Who’s asleep? / ‘Not I,’ says the minnow.” Habitat by habitat, a child dressed in a lamb costume investigates the possible sleepers: ducks in the pond, turtles near the pond, bees in the garden, birds in the trees and so on. Gershator and Green provide a sweetly rhythmic cumulative survey of the fauna; Chollat supplies bright, flat acrylic-and-collage illustrations to depict the fun, but she sacrifices recognizable realism to the detriment of the whole. The duckling looks like an adult duck; the baby jay looks like a yellow cartoon chick (as do all the presumably adult jays). The reason for this can be seen in the child’s bedroom accessories, but that last spread comes too late to satisfy quibblers. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8050-6390-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bound to put a smile on readers’ faces.
As the title says, this is a book of shapes—but with a little touch of whimsy.
A goofy-looking emu on the cover, with wispy feathers in beautiful shades of purple and turquoise, forewarns readers there is more to the book than simple shapes. And it delivers. The first spread presents a wood-grained green circle against a white background and a simple, straightforward statement: “This is a circle.” Next comes a red square and “This is a square.” Next, a blue triangle and “This is a triangle.” Next comes an emu. An emu? The deadpan narration announces, “This is an emu pushing a pancake wagon down the hill.” Readers are now in the know; what other quirky appearances might there be? The book does not disappoint. Interspersed with other basic shapes, a porpoise reading knock-knock jokes and a skateboarding rhinoceros also show up in the same matter-of-fact way. Being in on the joke, children will have no difficulty accepting the juxtaposition of simple shapes and silly animal antics as perfectly sensible. But when a plain pineapple makes an appearance, readers will agree with the author: “What is that doing here?” The final spread shows animals and shapes but no pineapple—after all, it doesn’t belong here—having fun at the beach.
Bound to put a smile on readers’ faces. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0701-9
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
There is not much here to make it stand out from other school-themed titles. Only for Peppa Pig devotees.
A busy school day gives the Peppa Pig licensing team an opportunity to cram every bit of learning and labeling they can into this based-on-a-British-TV-show title.
It’s not just any school day, though, it’s Special Talent Day, and Peppa has yet to decide which of her many talents she will share—singing, dancing, jumping rope. After a “good pancake breakfast,” it’s off to school. Before the students can share their talents, there are all sorts of things to learn and do: counting from one to 10, naming an object that begins with each letter of the alphabet, playing store, painting, lunchtime and recess, and music class (aka name-a-bunch-of-instruments-and-their-sounds class). Finally, it’s time to share their talents. But what will Peppa do when she realizes not one of her talents is unique? She shows her class just what she (and every stereotypical pig) is good at, and they join in. The cartoon digital illustrations are bright and colorful and reflect the TV show’s aesthetic, but they are not without their flaws. It’s a good thing that characters’ names include their species, since some are rather difficult to identify. Also, children may wonder why the larger and older Peppa is in the same class with her little brother, George, and what appear to be other younger siblings.
There is not much here to make it stand out from other school-themed titles. Only for Peppa Pig devotees. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: June 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6525-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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