Sure to please both young children and the adults who read to them.
This lullaby will send children to sleep in fits of giggles.
After their child puts a pair of red pajamas on their body and a stuffed duck on their head, an adult caregiver declares that it is finally time to go to sleep. The sleepy child climbs into the grown-up’s lap, settling in for what readers are led to believe will be a cozy, traditional lullaby. Instead, the caregiver sings a song rife with non-sequiturs and nonsense words such as “fibblety-fisty foo” and “zoodle.” As the song continues, the lyrics become increasingly ridiculous, referencing chickens in the bathtub, sheep in the closet, and sneakers in the freezer. Despite the nonsensical words, the lullaby lulls the child to sleep, and the adult—who now wears the stuffed duck on their head—lovingly tucks their dear “zoodle” in for a restful night. With this effort Boynton (I Love You, Little Pookie, 2018, etc.) is at her absurdist best. The illustrations, which feature her characteristic ink lines and bold blocks of color, are filled with hilarious details ranging from the demeanor of a somberly mooing owl to the wide-eyed puzzlement written across the child’s face upon hearing the lullaby’s opening lines. The rhyming text is delightful to read aloud, and the musical score incorporated into the illustrations allows parents who can read music to sing the lullaby to an actual tune.
Sure to please both young children and the adults who read to them. (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5282-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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