A solid introduction to things seen above.
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! A plane! And lots of other things!
This board book explores everything the sky has to offer. From kites to bubbles to rainbows, the atmosphere holds many lovely things, and little readers will get to know many of them with this simple read. At the start of each section, little ones are told to “Look up!” and spot each individual object in the sky. Once it’s been identified, the text gives small supporting details in the following double-page spread (“The wind blows the kite in the air”; “A bubble is round”) before moving on to another aerial object. The pictures are bright and keenly composed, using National Geographic’s trademark straightforward style. The children depicted are all light-skinned. Companion title Peek-a-boo is published concurrently and uses the same narrative structure to introduce little readers to creatures living in the wild. Both books are simple but effective.
A solid introduction to things seen above. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2454-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
A well-meant miss.
A little boy takes an active role in recycling and reusing in this lift-the-flap tale.
The boy, along with a couple of young friends, demonstrates cleaning and sorting recyclables, donating unwanted clothes and toys, and reusing other materials for various projects. While this is a noble effort, the rhyming text, which appears on the outside of and under each flap, does not scan well: “Clink, clink, clink. Into each bin– / BOTTLES, / PAPER, / PLASTIC, / TIN.” Some of the concepts above and below each flap have a clear relationship to one another: A large cardboard box is empty above the flap and reused as a toy boat below the flap. Other concepts do not connect quite as well: The plastic (above the flap) and “tin” cans (under the flap) look to be going into the same bin, but the next page shows them carefully sorted into their own separate bins. The cover may also confuse little ones, and a few grown-ups too, since it mostly shows materials to be reused (toys and clothes to be donated), not recycled. The flat, friendly and soft-hued cartoons look to be a mix of digital art over collaged backgrounds of reused materials. Other titles in the Teenie Greenies series, which are printed on recycled paper with soy ink, tackle gardening, composting and transportation alternatives with greater clarity.
A well-meant miss. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86172-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With short facts about pigs, chickens, cattle, horses and more, there is just enough to be of interest to the youngest...
This introduction to farm life includes a cover of layered, bubble-shaped pages of various sizes, each with an image of a farm animal peeking through.
Once a page is turned, bright stock photos of livestock, working animals and even the farmer appear in the inside. A heading introduces them (such as “In the field” for the page about sheep), and one or two simple facts are shared (“Woolly sheep roam the grassy fields”). The creatures themselves provide additional and more specific information via speech bubbles (“A baby sheep is called a lamb,” a lamb confides). One section of each spread still retains the image that is visible from the cover and hints at what is coming next on the verso. This iteration of the Seek and Peek gimmick of shaped pages is more successful than others in the series such At the Zoo, In the Rainforest and Dinosaurs, with their confusing layouts. Here, the strong background color of each spread helps differentiate the information in question from the images of things to come. The last double-page spread shows a tractor and a combine harvester and shares a couple of tidbits about farmyard machinery. The novel format will make it difficult for spine-out shelving in libraries and elsewhere.
With short facts about pigs, chickens, cattle, horses and more, there is just enough to be of interest to the youngest animal enthusiast. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6940-8
Page Count: 8
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
