Sincere rather than sloppily sentimental…and, as ever, a marvel of intricate design.
A pop-up apotheosis in the “I love you more than anything” genre.
The panjandrum of paper engineering presents a repeated “I love you…” on alternate flat spreads; he completes them with six animal pop-ups depicting peer or parental relationships and captioned by ways of loving. These range from “exactly the way you are,” for a crab carrying on its back a large sea anemone that unfolds spectacularly as the page turns, to “and will encourage you to do great things,” paired to a trio of polar bears sliding exuberantly down a snowy slope. Though his complex, inventive pop-ups are (as usual) mostly fashioned from heavy, white paper, he makes particularly fine use of color both in the minimalist backgrounds, where hues evoke diverse seasons or habitats, and in the figures themselves. The anemone, for instance, shines in shades of orange, and the yellow and purple bills of two facing swans on the final spread give the heart shape formed by their heads and necks an intimate glow. Though the theme of reassurance is simpler, or at least less abstract, than that in his most recent outing, Believe: A Pop-Up Book of Possibilities (2019), the art again invites both wonder and broader, extended reflections on the meaning of the words. Alas, poor type contrast on some spreads may have readers struggling to find them.
Sincere rather than sloppily sentimental…and, as ever, a marvel of intricate design. (Pop-up picture book. 5-adult)Pub Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1037-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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