by Ross Burach ; illustrated by Ross Burach ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2018
Burach earns a fist bump if not an actual high-five.
The user instructions on the cover of this board book are simple: “Read, Hi-Five, Repeat.”
Black-lined cartoon images of 12 different animals holding out various appendages for readers to slap are accompanied by rhyming invitations to play this greeting game. Burach assumes, probably correctly, that toddlers already know how to give a high-five, but any who don’t will soon. His rhymes work: “STOMP YOUR FEET! / Hi-five a trunk! // Hold your nose. Hi-five a skunk!” But they introduce vocabulary that many toddlers may not yet possess, as in an elephant’s “trunk,” so caregivers will need to be ready to help interpret. Sometimes meaning becomes lost in the cleverness, as with “Belly slide, flipper flap! / Round the back, polar clap!” This rhyme is paired with a stylized penguin and an extremely abstract polar bear that’s positioned back to, holding its paw behind its back. Each animal has googly eyes, and usually one wing, paw, or fin is extra-large to make a target. The exaggerated appendages that facilitate the game also make the animals look out of proportion and even less like the real thing. The book’s sturdy construction and extra-thick pages will survive the repeated rough handling it invites.
Burach earns a fist bump if not an actual high-five. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-24567-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Audrey Perrott
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Perrott ; illustrated by Ross Burach
BOOK REVIEW
by Ross Burach ; illustrated by Ross Burach
BOOK REVIEW
by Ross Burach ; illustrated by Ross Burach
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
More by Audrey Penn
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Mike Yamada
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Julia Woolf ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2013
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.
A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.
Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-611-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
More by Patricia Hegarty
BOOK REVIEW
by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Lucy Barnard
BOOK REVIEW
by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Thomas Elliott
BOOK REVIEW
by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Fhiona Galloway
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.