A frog experiences different kinds of weather in this sweetly illustrated board book.
The book starts with a “Wake up, Weather!” Readers find a frog asleep in a hammock of cattail leaves, and the sun is sizzling. As the book progresses the weather evolves. There is rain, fog, snow, clouds, wind, and, finally, when the stars come out, the book ends with a “Goodnight, Weather!” Accompanying the changing weather throughout the book, the frog skips from lily pad to lily pad in rain boots in the rain; climbs a ladder to peek above the fog; ice skates in the swirling snow; floats on a cloud; parallels the whispering wind by whispering to a fellow frog; and, finally, when the weather presumably goes to sleep, so does the frog in the hammock. The true value of the book lies in the richness of the verbs used: “sizzles,” “puddles,” “creeps,” “swirls,” “float,” “whispers,” “shimmer.” The watercolor illustrations have a light, airy, and delicate feel, and the big smile on the frog’s face is a friendly invitation to follow the action. And yet, there is a spark missing to the whole. The pastel-colored, soft-edged illustrations communicate little energy, and the intrusion of snow into what otherwise could be seen as a narrative occurring in one day feels off (if pedagogically excusable).
Young children preferring a light touch will enjoy this one, others can look elsewhere. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-56846-286-8
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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The life story of a seed is set in a biblical context.
Readers are introduced on the first page to Little Seed, who will serve as the uninspiring and often hard-to-spot main character of this tale. It floats to the ground and is buried in the soil until winter arrives and the earth freezes. Lest readers worry about Little Seed at this point, they are offered the startling—for no religious or spiritual context has been thus far established—reassurance that “God gave Little Seed everything it needed. Its hard coat protected it. Little Seed was safe.” When spring comes, Little Seed’s softened shell splits open, and a sprout and roots begin to grow. At this point, the illustrations present several small seedlings, making it impossible to even identify Little Seed. When summer rolls around, Little Seed has become a sunflower that must reproduce in fall to fulfill its destiny. The final page spread attempts to tie everything together by offering a quotation referencing gardens and seeds from Isaiah 61:11. The illustrations, an unusual mixture of realism and impressionism, are plagued by inconsistencies. The permanent fixtures of Little Seed’s background, for example, seem to change from season to season, though presumably it remains rooted in the same spot.
Lacking in consistency and coherence, this effort remains an interesting concept unsuccessfully executed. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9854090-7-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Graham Blanchard
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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A graciously illustrated rhyming ode to eggs.
Wrapped in its own firm shell, this compact board book has a solid padded cover and opens onto stiff, matte cardboard pages. Creamy white backgrounds highlight each page’s avian-related vignette, ranging from a greenish-gold “shiny egg” to a “dotted egg” with an elaborately lined, blue iridescent feather nestled in front. Though each page features an accurately drawn egg, there’s enough variation among the depictions—a large tropical flower overhanging a tiny vervain hummingbird egg; a chickadee incubating her eggs; a silly but “sweet” foil-wrapped chocolate egg—that the content feels fresh. Ink drawings in subdued colors are fine and delicate, clearly conveying the subtle differences among each bird species, and eggs and nests manage to look both fragile and solid. Related in two-word rhyming couplets consisting of one descriptor word followed by “egg,” the text achieves a smooth, catchy sound. A useful illustrated key at the back identifies the eggs, though some, like a “sea egg” identified as a great blue heron’s or those of less-familiar birds, such as the cassowary, beg for more context or even a picture of the bird itself. A tall, thin typeset keeps the focus on the lovely eggshells but is hard to read from a distance; sharp corners on the board pages make this case-bound board book unsuitable for the youngest listeners.
Egg-quisite . (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-56846-351-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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