A sweetly balanced affirmation of the child’s right to space.
After finally succeeding in getting some privacy for reading, a little rabbit learns about balancing isolation and socialization.
Although the cinnamon-brown bunny in a red turtleneck sweater is admirably gender-neutral throughout the text, the book cover ascribes it a male pronoun and the name Jack. Regardless, the uncomplicated text and the humorous art combine to create a story appealing to all. The layout consists of pure white, double-page spreads, filled with brightly contrasting rabbits. In the first spread, 21 comical, anthropomorphic rabbits do such things as dance ballet, leap, play musical instruments, and kick a soccer ball. The red-sweatered bunny is trying to read a book, the slyly titled Space Bunny. Large print announces the bunny’s cross plaint over the general mayhem: “SHUSH! I want to look at my book!” Taking matters in paw, the bunny uses a red marker to draw a circle for privacy, eventually leading to two particularly engaging sequences of art: one documenting the physical process of settling in to read a book and one showing the bunny’s imagination taking off with space creatures. A smaller, beige rabbit in a blue dress—possibly the protagonist’s little sibling—crosses the line at a perfect time: the reader is feeling more than ready to leave solitary confinement and rejoin the other rabbits.
A sweetly balanced affirmation of the child’s right to space. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-911171-12-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.
A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.
Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-611-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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