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VERDURAS / VEGETABLES

Name: VERDURAS / VEGETABLES
Author: Sara Anderson
ISBN: 978-0-9911933-5-6

by Sara Anderson ; illustrated by Sara Anderson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2015

As a simple Spanish vocabulary builder, this book, along with its companion, Frutas/Fruit, is serviceable, but as a...

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A bright celebration of vegetables in Spanish and English for the youngest readers.

With, mostly, one vegetable per page (pumpkins and sweet corn each occupy a double-page spread), this introduction to veggies offers far more variety than the usual board book. Carrots, peas, and broccoli—the usual suspects—share space with such relative exotics as artichokes, eggplants, and asparagus. Rendered in bright, painterly strokes, each vegetable is placed on a solid-colored background that allows it to pop: creamy, yellow onion on deep blue; dark purple beet on light green; leafy, green spinach on brick red. All look, well, good enough to eat. A bilingual edition of the English-only Vegetables (2008), this board book appears to prioritize Spanish in its typography and design, printing the Spanish text in bold above the English. A closer look, however, reveals that in sequencing, the text still gives preference to English rhythm and rhyme. The highly chantable “green bean / radish // sweet potato / yam // cauliflower / cabbage // Vegetables jam!” in English becomes “el ejote / el rábano // el camote / el camote rojo // la coliflor / la col (o el repollo) // ¡Una fiesta de verduras!” in Spanish. A true Spanish-language equivalent to the original would need to be built from the ground up in order to achieve the same rich experience.

As a simple Spanish vocabulary builder, this book, along with its companion, Frutas/Fruit, is serviceable, but as a rollicking read-aloud, it pales by comparison with its original. (Board book. 6 mos.-3)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-9911933-5-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sara Anderson

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

Categories:

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I AM A PEACEFUL GOLDFISH

by Shoshana Chaim ; illustrated by Lori Joy Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 13, 2021

A soothing, logical, and playful introduction to mindfulness for young listeners.

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What can you do when things go wrong?

Two children contemplate different ways to calm themselves down in this straightforward introduction to breathing, relaxation, and mindfulness. The younger, White-presenting child follows suit when the older, brown-skinned child proposes imaginative calming techniques. They picture themselves as various animals (goldfish, elephants, dragons) and objects (pinwheels, dandelions, wind chimes, flowers), inhaling and exhaling, that make deep breathing and calming down concrete and easy to comprehend. Simplified, whimsical illustrations add a touch of humor and a wink to the 1970s while preventing the story from becoming cloying, as soft, gentle instructions help the characters (and listeners) to understand some of the mechanics behind how to intentionally breathe and decompress. While not necessarily something that children will pick up unless they are learning about practicing mindfulness, this informative title has charm and warmth and will give youngsters some ideas as to how to self-regulate and manage their feelings as they learn to be aware of their breathing. Endpapers feature a multiracial array of children’s faces expressing different emotions.

A soothing, logical, and playful introduction to mindfulness for young listeners. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: April 13, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-77164-637-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Greystone Kids

Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

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PIRATES DON'T TAKE BATHS

by John Segal and illustrated by John Segal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

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Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)