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HEY OWL, WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

Name: HEY OWL, WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
Author: Rebecca Purcell
ISBN: 978-1-80036-003-7

From the Owl and Bird series

by Rebecca Purcell ; illustrated by Rebecca Purcell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2020

Expect demand for repeated readings (and maybe donuts too).

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A cheery guessing game for toddlers ready for a sweet, predictable mystery.

A perky gray owl is on its way to a party. The yellow plane flying a “PARTY TONIGHT” banner is the first clue. Owl’s pink roller skates hint at the fun to come. And of course, Owl’s leaving a bakery carrying a box clearly marked “DONUTS.” Apparently, the animals Owl meets can’t read yet, just like the toddlers or preschoolers playing along with the guessing game. The animals asking the title question wear clues to what their guess may be: A bird with a pirate’s eye patch asks, “Is it treasure?” A swan with a crown and star-tipped wand asks, “Is it fairy dust?” To each ever more fanciful guess, Owl replies, “Nope.” Lest this formula grow dull, the questions begin to vary a tiny bit, until a baby owl says, “I know what’s in the box! Is it a surprise?” and Owl replies, “Yes!” Predictable text, expressive characters, and added details in the uncluttered pictures against a cheerful teal background make this simple story surprisingly satisfying for young readers just beginning to understand story structure. The real surprise is what happens when Owl trips on a rock and drops the box.

Expect demand for repeated readings (and maybe donuts too). (Board book. 2-5)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-80036-003-7

Page Count: 16

Publisher: Tiny Seed

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE MONSTER READS A BOOK
by Rebecca Purcell

- BOOK REVIEW
COUNTING WITH OWL AND BIRD
by Rebecca Purcell ; illustrated by Rebecca Purcell

- BOOK REVIEW
CAT HAS ONE SHOE
by Rebecca Purcell ; illustrated by Rebecca Purcell

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ANIMAL SHAPES

by Christopher Silas Neal ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2018

Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.

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You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!

What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?

Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: March 27, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Little Bee Books

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
WE LEAP TOGETHER
by Christopher Silas Neal ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

- BOOK REVIEW
OVER AND UNDER THE WETLAND
by Kate Messner ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

- BOOK REVIEW
LIKE NO OTHER
by Sneed B. Collard III ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

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HAPPY EASTER FROM THE CRAYONS

by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023

Let these crayons go back into their box.

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The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.

Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)