Toddlers who need the board-book pages will be confused by the story, and there are better choices for preschoolers...
Like Eric Barclay’s Counting Dogs (2015), a sturdy “book in a box” that will hold up to rough handling.
Five layered, die-cut pages visible on recto upon opening the book hint at five race cars. Each page turn changes the background and reveals in turn more information about the vehicles—which, it turns out, are not race cars like the first one but a green sedan, blue van, yellow pickup truck, and purple SUV (which looks rather more like a hearse than an SUV). Unfortunately, the rhyming verses don't always work with the illustrations. The first stanza says, “Bob is zooming to the lead,” but the red race car is actually at the rear of the pack. Similarly, the text says that “green smoke comes out” of the green car, but the smoke in the picture is clearly gray. Spoiler alert—the final page turn and verse find the animal drivers leaving their cars and changing into running gear for a track meet. The rhymes scan, and there are plenty of signs and pictures to discuss, but there is a hair too much text for toddler attention spans.
Toddlers who need the board-book pages will be confused by the story, and there are better choices for preschoolers fascinated by cars and trucks. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-79958-4
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Peek, and you’ll find a rollicking romp here.
The favorite game of toddlers gets a dino twist.
A large dinosaur tries to outsmart a smaller companion when the duo play peekaboo together. The big dino naïvely believes they won’t be noticed behind or under sundry hiding places, but the little pal always finds their playmate. Young listeners will giggle as the large dino attempts to outwit the little one, but in vain; in every instance, the diminutive, overalls-clad dino calls out a triumphant “Peekaboo!” How come? Is it because thin tree trunks and a potted plant can’t conceal the large dino’s frame? Do the big dino’s bold, flower-print shirts stick out a mile? Even when the large dinosaur attempts an aerial hiding place, they discover that ruse doesn’t, ahem, fly, nor does hiding in a crowd wearing a Where’s Waldo?–esque red-striped cap and T-shirt do any good. In a display of good sportsmanship, the big dino concedes at the end the game was fun. The youngest audiences, all of whom will have likely engaged in marathon peekaboo sessions themselves, will undoubtedly scramble to play again. Besides stimulating playtime, this adorable board book, expressed in lilting rhymes, boosts vocabulary development through the use of some common prepositions (behind, in) and adverbs (here, there, everywhere). The illustrations are sweetly engaging; the round cutout on the front cover invites youngsters to play peekaboo games with adult partners and others. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Peek, and you’ll find a rollicking romp here. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66592-840-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on...
An exploration of the human body through colorful photos.
Every other double-page spread labels the individual parts on one major area: head, torso, back, arm and leg. Ethnically diverse boy-girl pairs serve as models as arrows point to specific features and captions float nearby. While the book usefully mentions rarely depicted body parts, such as eyebrow, armpit and shin, some of the directional arrows are unclear. The arrow pointing at a girl’s shoulder hits her in the upper arm, and the belly button is hard is distinguish from the stomach (both are concealed by shirts). Facts about the human body (“Guess what? You have tiny hairs in your nose that keep out dirt”) appear on alternating spreads along with photos of kids in action. Baby Animals, another title in the Look & Learn series, uses an identical format to introduce readers to seal pups, leopard cubs, elephant calves, ducklings and tadpoles. In both titles, the final spread offers a review of the information and encourages readers to match baby animals to their parents or find body parts on a photo of kids jumping on a trampoline.
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on the right track despite earlier titles that were much too conceptual for the audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1483-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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