by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Irene Chan ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 5, 2018
Leave this developmentally inappropriate title on the shelf.
A board book for the toddlers of Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.
As with Baby Loves Quarks! (2016) and its series companions, Spiro attempts to explain a topic too complex and abstract for toddlers. The bright-eyed brown-skinned cartoon child on the cover is inviting enough. But it’s hard to imagine the real baby who will be able to follow her example: “Baby takes three steps to the right, three steps forward, and three steps to the left.” The text can tell readers that “This pattern of steps is called an algorithm” when repeated every time the child wants to go to the toy box, but that does not mean babies can understand, much less replicate, the behavior of a computer program. As with many tech-oriented toys designed for gifted tots, a toy train is used to illustrate coding. Later pictures show other machines that rely on unseen computer code to function. There is nothing factually wrong here. And yes, parents and caregivers can follow the book’s example by inserting the language of science and coding in conversation. But 20 pages of oversimplified explanations of theoretical concepts, no matter how attractively packaged, will not translate to understanding until the child is past the concrete-operations stage of development—and even gifted toddlers just aren’t there yet.
Leave this developmentally inappropriate title on the shelf. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58089-884-3
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Greg Paprocki
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by Rajiv Fernandez ; illustrated by Rajiv Fernandez ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2017
The perfect baby-shower gift for Brooklyn hipsters, but all others, including the core baby-toddler audience, should...
A baby’s everyday world is paired with the sites and trends of Brooklyn, New York.
The left-hand page displays something a toddler might recognize (blocks, dominoes, and a rocking horse, for instance) with corresponding landmarks claimed by Brooklyn hipsters (Brooklyn Bridge, the Domino Sugar factory, and Jane’s Carousel) on the facing page. The art is graphically interesting, with flat planes of highly saturated, digital color on solid backgrounds as simple, white captions float above. A few of the images are toddler-friendly, such as the ABC blocks that are matched with the subway logos for the J/M/Z trains, but most will prove too abstract for little ones still learning to name their world. Human figures are created by layering just some features on the negative space of the backgrounds, which means almost all lack significant facial features and several even lack limbs. Many of the scenes are quite adult (a row of tap handles from a “Biergarten” is paired with a line of kindergarten students) and others are so specific to the “hipster” parts of north Brooklyn (two people running to catch the always-too-short-for-the-platform G train; a passenger “manspreading” on the L train) that they might not even be understood by residents from south Brooklyn.
The perfect baby-shower gift for Brooklyn hipsters, but all others, including the core baby-toddler audience, should “Fuhgeddaboudit.” (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-57687-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: POW!
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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by Rajiv Fernandez ; illustrated by Rajiv Fernandez
by Surya Sajnani ; illustrated by Surya Sajnani ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2017
A spectacular addition to the bathtime routine.
Pond animals join little ones in the tub.
The flora and fauna of the pond come to life in this bathtime book. Bold black-and-white illustrations are printed on foam-filled fabric-paper pages, thick lines creating easily identifiable creatures that are also fairly realistic. When the book is submerged in water, bright primary colors spontaneously burst through, bringing the animals to life. Little ones will delight in having a book to read in the tub. Caregivers can also give their little readers paintbrushes and cups of water to dip in and “paint” the animals by hand. The animals include a swan, a water vole, a family of ducks (that, charmingly, say, “quackity quack”), a fish, and a dragonfly. Series companion Color Me: Who’s in the Ocean publishes concurrently and features a crab, a jellyfish, a whale, an octopus, and a sea horse. The fabric dries quickly and is ready to be dunked in the water many times over.
A spectacular addition to the bathtime routine. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68297-140-6
Page Count: 8
Publisher: QEB Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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by Surya Sajnani ; illustrated by Surya Sajnani
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