Young readers will enjoy looking at the book and spinning the face, either independently or with their adult readers.
A transportation book for the youngest ones.
Transportation enthusiasts will enjoy this energetic and playful board book. In bright colors and simple geometric shapes, five vehicles take center stage. A circular die-cut holds a swiveling baby face. Readers can spin the face to a happy or sad expression. “Eee-ooo-eee-ooo!” goes the fire truck as it races down the street. “Uh-oh! There’s a crack in the sidewalk!” The cement mixer can fix that problem. “Woo-wee!” Time to load the recycling truck. “Phew, it’s hot!” Never mind, here’s the ice cream truck. “Clank-clank!” Engine won’t start? The tow truck is here! Babies and their adult readers will find lots of details to look at and discuss in addition to the primary vehicles presented, such as a little ambulance that appears on every spread. Also, babies can decide whether the situation calls for a happy or sad face and spin the face accordingly. A companion volume, Friends, follows a similar format. Here, babies are introduced to relatively abstract concepts such as making friends, sharing, cleaning up, and helping others. The spinning face helps to make these feelings concrete and understandable for children just beginning to grasp these concepts. The text in both books is not scintillating, but it does the job.
Young readers will enjoy looking at the book and spinning the face, either independently or with their adult readers. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4187-9
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Simple words and big concepts will make this a godsend to parents at their wit's end.
This book seeks to use the power of persuasion to vanquish that most formidable of opponents: toddlers.
In this entry in the Big Kid Power series, a little black girl makes no bones about the fact that pacifiers (or “binkies”) are strictly baby territory. When she was little she needed one, but that was then. Whether she’s tired, sad, or hungry, there are other ways of being comforted: hugs and polite requests, for instance. After she gives her binky to a baby and bids it a very clear goodbye, the book ends with a triumphant, “I’M A BIG KID!” Using a striking color combination of orange, brown, and black, van Lieshout keeps her pages bold and bright, complementing the simple vocabulary. Such declarations as, “Do I still have a binky? // NO, BIG KIDS DON’T NEED A BINKY. / NOPE!” leave scant wiggle room for argument. In her author’s note at the end, van Lieshout says that after speaking to many parents about how they helped their kids bid their pacifiers adieu, “many of them had in common…a ritual of some sort.” The ritual here seems to be giving the pacifier away, though it may be missed by many readers. Companion title I Use the Potty uses a similar approach, with a proud, white boy as its guide.
Simple words and big concepts will make this a godsend to parents at their wit's end. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3536-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
A satisfying package that will indeed keep toddlers busy—exemplary.
The latest addition to the World of Eric Carle is proof that the Wilder Award–winning picture-book creator knows what appeals to children.
This board book is both developmentally appropriate and aesthetically pleasing—perfect for toddlers. In a sturdy, oversize (10 1/2 inches square) format, Carle recycles iconic images from his vast canon to introduce shapes, colors, numbers, animals, and sounds. The flower on the cover is almost (but not quite) identical to the flower that grows from The Tiny Seed (1970). Seeing the animals throughout the pages is like recognizing old friends. But Carle and the book’s designer, Hannah Frece, put these familiar images to fresh uses to create a logical, accessible, and harmonious concept book. Although billed as a “busy book,” it is not hyperactive, using just five or six images per spread. From the mirror that lights up the sun on the cover to the touch-and-feel inserts on the page about animals to the single flap that hides a mouse from a cat, the tactile elements have been chosen with intention instead of just as gimmicks. On other pages, foils and textures are subtle, with many barely raised images that invite tracing.
A satisfying package that will indeed keep toddlers busy—exemplary. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5791-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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