by Sandra Gross ; Leah Busch ; illustrated by Sandra Gross ; Leah Busch ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
This is one breakfast to skip.
The faces of a white-bread family—literally—are created on slices of toast with condiment features.
Every member is introduced, one face per page, including pets, grandparents and cousins. Dad Toast has a large pat of butter for a nose, and squiggles of what looks to be apple butter make the mouth, eyes and eyebrows. The image of Brother Toast uses large panels of American cheese and squirts of red jelly to make a baseball hat, two beady eyes and a food-stained mouth. Bold text written in a brown type labels each family member and describes the characteristics of some (“Grandpa Toast, a bald head”). The family cat and dog meow and woof, and Grandma Toast utters the sole line of dialogue: “‘Hi, Honey!’” All of these images were made using kiln-formed glass. The back-cover blurb states that artists Gross and Busch make it their mission to introduce “young children to the wonderful properties of glass.” As talented as they are, why they chose to make a toast family is baffling. Few of the toast faces look appetizing, with cheese, jam, honey and a white substance (cream cheese?) all on one slice of bread. Many of the faces will be too abstract for young children—Teen Toast apparently has no eyes, Aunt Maude’s are odd splotches, and the honey-made mouth of one of the Toasty Twin Cousins is hard to discern.
This is one breakfast to skip. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-936669-18-9
Page Count: 14
Publisher: blue manatee press
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
More by John Hutton
BOOK REVIEW
by John Hutton ; illustrated by Sandra Gross
BOOK REVIEW
by John Hutton ; illustrated by Sandra Gross
BOOK REVIEW
by Sandra Gross ; illustrated by Sandra Gross
by Dan Saks ; illustrated by Brooke Smart ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2020
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Share your opinion of this book
More by Dan Saks
BOOK REVIEW
by Dan Saks ; illustrated by Brooke Smart
BOOK REVIEW
by Dan Saks ; illustrated by Brooke Smart
BOOK REVIEW
by Dan Saks ; illustrated by Brooke Smart
by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Thomas Elliott ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 3, 2021
Guess how much you’ll be reading this.
Parent and child share a day of small adventures and cozy snuggles.
That the two happen to be tortoises is totally beside the point. Die-cut holes and shaped edges turn nearly every page flip into a surprise. Following a parental “Good morning, Baby” to greet the youngling’s “Wake up, wake up, I want to play… / The sun is up, it’s a brand new day!” the two reptiles ramble off to munch on leaves, weather a sudden rain shower, discover a flock of butterflies, climb a hill, watch the moon rise, and, at last, weary little one perched on top, settle down to snooze again. The paper engineering is ingenious. Turning a seemingly arbitrarily shaped page with a special window framing a pink butterfly fills the spread with many jewel-toned insects; even though the tortoises never change position, the scene is completely transformed. Hegarty’s rhymed narrative features lots of tender sentiments—“Wherever you are, wherever you go, / Baby, I’ll always love you so”—while steering clear of any gender references. In Elliott’s peaceful, grassy settings the wanderers’ small smiles and shared glances likewise create a sense of loving intimacy. This is likely to become a victim of its own appeal, being as the paper stock is rather too flimsy to survive much contact with toddler hands. Still, a clear winner for sharing with audiences of one or dozens.
Guess how much you’ll be reading this. (Novelty. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3509-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Share your opinion of this book
More by Patricia Hegarty
BOOK REVIEW
by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Lucy Barnard
BOOK REVIEW
by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Fhiona Galloway
BOOK REVIEW
by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Xuan Le
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.