A zany read-aloud book for the youngest of diners.
Lively and quirky, Burach’s first picture-book outing aims to send kids into fits of giggles.
A little boy pops into a restaurant expecting a delicious bowl of tomato soup. Instead, he encounters a whole zoo-ful of animals in his soup. Hilarity ensues. First, a bowl with a gangly giraffe arrives at his table. This is followed by an alligator with an appetite for children and then a host of animals including a drowning elephant, a sleeping koala, and, ultimately, a massive blue whale. Giving up on soup, the boy decides to go straight to dessert. Alas, the waiter can’t get that right either! While the dialogue is succinct and simple, attempts at wordplay are more contrived than clever. “ ‘YAK! YAK! YAK!’ ‘Yuck? Yuck? Yuck? / Oh. YAK. Yuck.’ ” Later, the waiter thinks the boy is accusing him of lying when he’s warning him about a lion. However, Burach’s illustrations more than make up for this shortfall. Dynamic angles and multiple points of view ensure that the colorful characters leap off the stark white pages. Double-page spreads emphasize size and heft. Amusing facial expressions animate the characters, and googly eyes and rosy cheeks make even normally scary creatures seem cute and docile. Plus, brilliant use of the front endpapers starts the story with an unexpected prologue.
A zany read-aloud book for the youngest of diners. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-236014-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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