Fans should stick with the apps; others needn’t bother.
In a narrative spinoff of the Sago Mini app suite, five animal pals enlist the help of readers to keep their surprise-party preparations a secret from Jinja the cat.
Over the course of several double-page spreads, Jack the bunny makes snacks, Hugbot the robot puts together a party band, Robin (a bird) does “decoration duty,” etc., as Jinja almost spoils her surprise as she obviously walks in on each of these scenes across the recto. The text instructs readers to use fingers and hands to hide cupcakes, balloons, presents, and so on from the honoree. While the art is invitingly bright and jovial, some of the images may prove confusing to toddlers. Ice cream scoops are stacked on top of one another without cones, and Harvey the dog, who is “in charge of games,” seems to be engaged in some mysterious construction (turns out he was making a zip line), and is it is unclear what sort of critter purple Rosie is supposed to be (hamster? guinea pig?). Little hands may be hard-pressed to completely cover the images as instructed on the 8-inch-square pages. Tabs on the side of the book help readers jump to a scene with the desired character.
Fans should stick with the apps; others needn’t bother. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0323-5
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Sizzle Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Sweet but dull.
Six little animal babies spend the day at Noah’s Park.
A baby dog, bear, cat, panda, pig, and snail in colorful onesies and overalls are planning a day in Noah’s Park. As they all sit or stand in a group looking out at readers, the unrelated text above them says “Explore, swing, dance, and jump….” A gatefold flap—which is always a crowd-pleaser with toddlers—reveals they’ve decided to sail away. They put on their life jackets, pack a snack, and off they go. The sweet-looking, cartoony animals board a pink-and-blue–checkered boat, from which they see ducks and ducklings bobbing to and fro. They take a break, feed the ducks, have their own snack, and sail back home. There really is not much action in the book, as the animals just sit or stand around, in spite of the action indicated at the beginning. Even at the end when the text says, “Let’s clean up and sing a god-bye tune,” they are just standing in the boat looking out at the ducks. Hopefully, real toddlers will have more engaging days than the one depicted in this board book.
Sweet but dull. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4263-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Little ones may be drawn to the sparkly foil of the faux screen cover, but the programming inside is industry standard.
This laptop-shaped offering (it opens from top to bottom after the release of a Velcro closure) introduces tots to colors, numbers, shapes, and opposites.
Bip, Bop, and Boo, a stuffed cat, elephant, and monkey respectively, appear in each section to suggest an activity (“Bip asks, ‘What shapes do you see?’ ”) via speech bubble. All but one of the four double-page spreads have flaps for readers to lift, but unfortunately they are too flimsy to withstand robust interaction. There is also a spin dial on two pages as well as sliding panels on another; all are relatively easy to manipulate. While the concepts are presented clearly enough (the book is part of the Skills for Starting School series), some of the images are a little too small for counting or easy identification. Bip, Bop, and Boo are fairly endearing characters, but the illustrations are a haphazard mishmash of what looks to be clip art and stock photography. The handle at the top is a toddler-friendly touch.
Little ones may be drawn to the sparkly foil of the faux screen cover, but the programming inside is industry standard. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4654-5129-3
Page Count: 10
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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