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ONE MORE TICKLE!

A GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU PUPPET BOOK

This will give readers a case of the giggles, but they won't be rolling on the floor in hysterics.

The lovable hares return for a ticklefest.

Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare are playing in the evening sunshine when the little one asks the larger, "Are you ticklish?" Thus begins an exchange of tickles that will have little ones giggling for sure. The book comes with a decently sized puppet Nutbrown Hare sewn into the back and sticking through the centrally die-cut pages that can be used to tickle little readers, body part by body part, as the pages turn. The only drawback to this book is the puppet, and it pertains only to those with large hands. Meaty-handed adult readers may not be able to fit their hands in the puppet or successfully turn pages without getting their knuckles caught, but those with less-substantial hands will likely be able to pull it off. Even they may find the puppet-and-book apparatus cumbersome enough that they abandon the puppet and just tickle directly, without risking koshing their little ones with the book’s edges. Jeram’s softly toned illustrations return with the Nutbrown Hares, providing a gently amusing background to the tickling.

This will give readers a case of the giggles, but they won't be rolling on the floor in hysterics. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7636-8819-6

Page Count: 14

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016

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SPOOKY POOKIE

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.

It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: July 7, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5

Page Count: 18

Publisher: Robin Corey/Random

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

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EEK! HALLOWEEN!

An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.

The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.

A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.

An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Workman

Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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