Communicating the universal concept of color within the specific celebration of Holi, this gem deserves a place in every...
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
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
High-quality, inclusive illustrations make this one stand out.
From the changing season to decorations and costumes, children anticipate Halloween.
Little readers will enjoy all of the familiar markers of the season included in this book: falling leaves, jack-o’-lanterns, Halloween costumes, candy, and trick-or-treating. Everett’s rhyming couplets bob along safely, offering nothing that will wow but enough to keep the pages turning. It’s Wen’s illustrations that give the most to readers, full of bustling scenes and lovely details. A double-page spread of the children in town in front of the candy store includes jars with individually drawn treats and other festive delicacies. The townwide celebration features instruments, creative costumes, and a diverse crowd of people. There are three children who appear as the focus of the illustrations, though there are many secondary characters. One bespectacled White child is drawn in a manual wheelchair, another has dark brown skin, the third presents Asian. The child in the wheelchair is shown as a full participant. Readers will enjoy spotting spooks like a vampire, goblin, and werewolf, as they sometimes appear in the background and other times blend in with the crowd. The familiar trappings of Halloween paired with the robust illustrations will have little readers wanting to reread even if the content itself is not startlingly new.
High-quality, inclusive illustrations make this one stand out. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0586-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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