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HOW BIG IS AN ELEPHANT?

Name: HOW BIG IS AN ELEPHANT?
Author: Rossana Bossù
ISBN: 978-1-55451-998-9

by Rossana Bossù ; illustrated by Rossana Bossù ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2018

A brief but engaging introduction to size ratios for young learners.

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Translated from Italian, this simple text with delicate, painted animal illustrations places a math concept into context.

Bossù answers her titular question by comparing big animals to smaller ones. To make one elephant, “you need 7 polar bears,” and to make one polar bear, “you need 4 lions.” Each spread introduces an animal smaller than the last, so the text follows a natural pattern from the elephant all the way down to a flea. After the text comes full circle, comparing elephants to fleas, Bossù challenges readers to guess “what is much, much, much bigger than both?” A wordless double-page spread of a whale’s flukes provides a hint and a pause before the final spread reveals that “You need / 7 elephants, 6 polar bears, 2 lions, 4 alligators, 9 penguins, 10 lemurs, and 1 flea to make a whale.” Repetition lends this book to sharing in storytime. Illustrations of animals dressed in costume, such as alligators with lion’s manes, add an element of whimsy and surprise to the otherwise simple and formulaic format. Brightly colored type makes the numerals stand out on the page. The periodic rebuslike replacement of animal names in the text with illustrations invites pre- and early readers to participate in sharing the book.

A brief but engaging introduction to size ratios for young learners. (Picture book. 2-6)

Pub Date: April 10, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-55451-998-9

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Annick Press

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
WHO WILL IT BE?
by Paola Vitale ; illustrated by Rossana Bossù

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ANIMAL SHAPES

by Christopher Silas Neal ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2018

Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.

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You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!

What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?

Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: March 27, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Little Bee Books

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
CREEP, LEAP, CRUNCH! A FOOD CHAIN STORY
by Jody Jensen Shaffer ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

- BOOK REVIEW
ALL’S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD
by Jennifer Adams ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

- BOOK REVIEW
OVER AND UNDER THE WAVES
by Kate Messner ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

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LOTS OF LOVE LITTLE ONE

FOREVER AND ALWAYS

by Sandra Magsamen ; illustrated by Sandra Magsamen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 4, 2018

So sweet it’ll have readers heading for their toothbrushes.

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Another entry in the how-much-I-love-you genre.

The opening spread shows a blue elephant-and-child pair, the child atop the adult, white hearts arcing between their uplifted trunks: “You’re a gift and a blessing in every way. / I love you more each and every day.” From there, the adult elephant goes on to tell the child how they are loved more than all sorts of things, some rhyming better than others: “I love you more than all the spaghetti served in Rome, // and more than each and every dog loves her bone.” More than stars, fireflies, “all the languages spoken in the world,” “all the dancers that have ever twirled,” all the kisses ever given and miles ever driven, “all the adventures you have ahead,” and “all the peanut butter and jelly spread on bread!” Representative of all the world’s languages are “I love you” in several languages (with no pronunciation help): English, Sioux, French, German, Swahili, Spanish, Hawaiian, Chinese, and Arabic (these two last in Roman characters only). Bold colors and simple illustrations with no distracting details keep readers’ focus on the main ideas. Dashed lines give the artwork (and at least one word on every spread) the look of 2-D sewn toys.

So sweet it’ll have readers heading for their toothbrushes. (Picture book. 2-6)