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TASTE THE CLOUDS

Name: TASTE THE CLOUDS
Author: Rita Marshall
ISBN: 978-1-56846-285-1

by Rita Marshall ; illustrated by Paolo Domeniconi ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 8, 2016

While a lovely package, it will float over the heads of most board-book readers.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
WAKE UP, WEATHER
by Rita Marshall ; illustrated by Monique Felix

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CHICK PEA AND THE CHANGING TREES

by Linda Cole Books Ltd. ; illustrated by Linda Cole Books Ltd. ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013

The flimsy construction and poor art and verse make it ill-suited for older children, too.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

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COLORS

From the TouchThinkLearn series

by Xavier Deneux ; illustrated by Xavier Deneux ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2013

This is a shame, as the mix of graphic simplicity and innovative tactile format would have made both of these delightful...

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A bold, graphic and tactile introduction to colors.

On the thicker-than-normal board pages, part of the page is cut away to create a shaped indentation. Glued to the facing page is part or all of the positive space that was cut from the other side. On the first spread, a red, raised apple is fixed to the left-hand page. The right side features the inside of the apple, which is evoked by the apple-shaped indentation with two seeds floating in the center. This inventive format works its way through the other hues, one of the most clever being a blue submarine paired with a submarine-shaped, white whale indentation. The minimal text simply labels one color per page. The last double-page spread features a collection of balloons that mesh with an artist’s palette on the facing page as the text asks, “So many colors! Which one is your favorite?” Using strong shades and solid and white backgrounds, Deneux’s style is clean, clear and graphically appealing. The companion title, Opposites (978-1-4521-1725-6), uses the same format, but the technique of matching negative and positive space is even more apropos here. Prime examples are the “empty” and “full” fishbowl and the “heavy” elephant paired with a “light” elephant-shaped cloud. Compromising the usefulness of both titles is the legal warning on the back of both books that states that it is not for children under 3.

This is a shame, as the mix of graphic simplicity and innovative tactile format would have made both of these delightful additions to the board-book canon; as it is, they represent choke hazards to babies and toddlers, who would most benefit from them. (Board book. 3-4)