Singh celebrates Holi, the Hindu festival of colors and love, and highlights six colors in this vibrant, playful board book.
Hindus celebrate Holi and the arrival of spring by tossing colored powders called gulal on one another. Short rhyming couplets, with type set within a design of the appropriate color, describe where the color is found. Some can be found everywhere (“Riding on the gentle breeze / came the GREEN of all the trees”), and some are specific to India (“Peacock brought the dreamiest BLUE— / he said he saved it just for you”). Stock photographs depict diverse children and their families and friends, with skin colors of different hues, laughing and celebrating with various Holi colors smeared over their faces and bodies. The sheer joy of the event comes through on nearly every page (and one suspects the child crying due to an eyeful of powder will brighten up soon enough), introducing the fun of the observance to all readers. A brief note at the end of the book gives more information about the festival, explaining that it “celebrates the legendary love of Lord Krishna for his beloved, Radha.”
Communicating the universal concept of color within the specific celebration of Holi, this gem deserves a place in every child’s book bag. (Board book. 2-5) (Board book2-5)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1849-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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A lift-the-flap book gives the littlest trick-or-treaters some practice identifying partygoers under their costumes.
Little Blue Truck and his buddy Toad are off to a party, and they invite readers (and a black cat) along for the ride: “ ‘Beep! Beep! Beep!’ / says Little Blue. / ‘It’s Halloween!’ / You come, too.” As they drive, they are surprised (and joined) by many of their friends in costume. “Who’s that in a tutu / striking a pose / up on the tiniest / tips of her toes? / Under the mask / who do you see?” Lifting the flap unmasks a friend: “ ‘Quack!’ says the duck. / ‘It’s me! It’s me!’ ” The sheep is disguised as a clown, the cow’s a queen, the pig’s a witch, the hen and her chick are pirates, and the horse is a dragon. Not to be left out, Little Blue has a costume, too. The flaps are large and sturdy, and enough of the animals’ characteristic features are visible under and around the costumes that little ones will be able to make successful guesses even on the first reading. Lovely curvy shapes and autumn colors fade to dusky blues as night falls, and children are sure to notice the traditional elements of a Halloween party: apple bobbing, lit jack-o’-lanterns, and punch and treats.
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-77253-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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