Fun from opening to clothes, err, close.
A small child doesn’t like getting dressed; luckily, his mama knows just what to do.
“ROAR!” A young, brown-skinned toddler with straight dark hair pretends to be a dinosaur, but his mother (also brown-skinned) needs to get him dressed for an outing. She gently suggests that he become a Diplodocus and “RUSH INTO THIS CAVE HEADFIRST”…the “cave” in question being the neck hole of the tyke’s jersey. To get him to slide his arms into the jersey’s sleeves, his mother encourages him to “BE A VELOCIRAPTOR AND REACH YOUR CLAWS IN TO GRAB SOME FISH.” Shirt on, the child is halfway there. In this playful fashion, pants, socks, and shoes follow. Mama employs the same tactics to get through tooth-brushing and getting the tot strapped into the car. The feisty youngster puts up a struggle every step of the way (“HRUMPF! DINOSAURS DON'T WEAR PANTS”) but clearly enjoys the imaginative play, assured of his mother’s unconditional love. Throughout the book, we see the child (and the mother) on the book’s verso pages, and on the recto pages we see the ever changing dinosaur version of him, swishing his tail, crashing through the jungle, and more. Pace’s illustrations are simple and serviceable with uncluttered backgrounds. Toddlers will relate to this entertaining depiction of a universal developmental challenge (i.e. learning how to get dressed) as well as the protagonist’s impassioned tantrums.
Fun from opening to clothes, err, close. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64170-643-8
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Familius
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated toddlers will be able to do it thanks to this gentle guide.
This introductory guide to the wide and wonderful world of potty training is presented through the medium of wildlife.
Cheery cartoons of insects, mammals, birds, and beasts show precisely where they loose their bowels. The simple text reads, “Ant poops on dirt. / And Beetle poops on dirt. // Monkey poops from a tree. / And Squirrel poops from a tree.” Some poop in the air, some under the sea, some on mountains, and some in deserts. The gently anthropomorphized cartoon critters beam out of the page as they deposit their waste hither, thither, and yon. While potty books abound, Meisel’s stands out in its unvarnished directness and respect, simple words and pictures speaking directly at the level of young children. Following the exploration of wild animals’ defecation habits, the book asks: “Where do you poop?” In answer, Meisel shows racially diverse children sitting on different types of potties as the text reads, “You poop here! / (And pee here too!).” Simple facts and trivia about poop appear at the end. A godsend for caregivers on the prowl for potty-training aids, the book does not strive for scientific accuracy in its depiction of animal feces, most of which appear as scribbly brown lumps on the page, or defecation postures. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 28.4% of actual size.)
Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated toddlers will be able to do it thanks to this gentle guide. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4601-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
Dino fans or not, little readers will dig this one.
A child clad in a dinosaur costume dances with dino pals all the way to bedtime.
In this somewhat oversized board book, Tom swishes, stomps, and roars through the jungle with his fellow dinos. Even an encounter with Tyrannosaurus rex doesn’t slow them down; the toothy dinosaur simply joins in the fun. It’s a refreshing change to see the oft-feared T. rex given the opportunity to belong to the group. Brown-skinned Tom looks adorable in his yellow costume, his curly dark hair peeking out from underneath the top. One sweet element of the story is that Tom is always assumed to be a dinosaur; there is no discussion of his playing dress-up or using his imagination, the same way that during play, a child simply becomes what they imagine themselves to be. Beardshaw’s illustrations are charming, full of friendly-faced creatures set against a backdrop of softly erupting volcanoes and waterfalls. Robinson’s rhyming text is mostly paced well, with the refrain of “Let’s do the dinosaur!” appearing several times throughout. It also acts as a nice call to readers to imitate the story’s movements, chomping, swishing, stomping, and roaring along the way. It even plays with the concepts of quiet and loud. Given the book’s larger size and the potential for participation, this would make a nice read-aloud for a toddler group as well as sharing in a lap.
Dino fans or not, little readers will dig this one. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68464-044-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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