While a lovely package, it will float over the heads of most board-book readers.
A child experiences synesthesia in a surrealistic landscape.
In each double-page spread, Marshall poses a poetic query; the first is: “Do you believe I can touch the stars?” The brown-haired, white youngster, wearing the same blue dress and accompanied by a faithful dog in each scene, plucks a star out of the sky and rides on the back of a giant owl in response. When asked to consider whether it’s possible to “smell a rainbow,” readers see the child peer over the edge of an oversized cauldron as the steam forms an arcing rainbow. Domeniconi’s jewel-toned, Magritte-inspired paintings employ a haunting light and playfully illustrate the words. A highlight is the page (and also the cover) that realizes the line “Taste the clouds?” as the tyke picks a cloud from a tree as if it were fruit. As captivating as the images are, will very young children, who are still learning to describe their own senses, be able to make the poetic leap to seeing music and listening to colors? The text becomes muddy at the end, and it is unclear who is responding to whom in the book’s questioning format.
While a lovely package, it will float over the heads of most board-book readers. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-56846-285-1
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
There are enough color-concept books for young children to overflow a crayon box without adding this developmentally...
Illustrator Girard's visually striking work suffers from uninspired text.
The chunky compilation features crisp lines and patterns. Bare of references to Girard's career, the introduction seeks to provide a total visual experience rather than an introduction to the artist. Slight rhyming phrases detract rather than enhance, implying relationships that don't exist. “A daisy in the garden, / green and growing; / multi-colored friends, / where are they going?” illustrates, first, a stylized daisy-woman and then a tiny army of three-dimensional figures, for instance. The flimsy spine proves too weak to support repeated readings of the 58-page book. Some descriptions fail to identify the shades featured in the illustrations (this is a book about colors), and the text itself is often confusing, peppered with oddly placed commas. “Alexander Girard, shows us colors in this book.”
There are enough color-concept books for young children to overflow a crayon box without adding this developmentally inappropriate offering to the mix. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-9344-2977-8
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Ammo
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
The flimsy construction and poor art and verse make it ill-suited for older children, too.
In this “pull-the-tab book about the seasons,” a chick and a bluebird visit the same tree throughout the year.
Readers pull none-too-sturdy sliding panels to alter the tree’s appearance. In the four internal double-page spreads, autumn leaves fall off the tree, snow covers it, blossoms speckle it, and apples change from green to red in this before-and-after interactive feature. The graphically flat art in springtime colors is rather fussy; the striped backgrounds resembling wallpaper patterns in various muted hues are an odd choice for these outdoor scenes. The rhyming verse, with stilted line breaks, describes the birds’ reactions to the changing seasons: “Chick Pea and Sweet Pea look up and see / new leaves and flowers all over the tree! / But the flowers drop their petals. / They’re starting to fall. / And Chick Pea is trying to / catch them all.” The pull-tab also reveals an additional couplet in which an unseen narrator reassures the critters and gives hints as to what the duo will see next season. While is does not point to any choking hazards, the fine print on the back of the book states that it is “Not suitable for children under 3 years of age.”
The flimsy construction and poor art and verse make it ill-suited for older children, too. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7641-6593-1
Page Count: 8
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
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