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EARS, NOSE, EYES...SURPRISE!

From the ROYGBaby series

Presenting nonfiction in a fun and interesting manner for our youngest readers, this delightful board book will keep kids...

Use your five senses to find the clues and guess the surprise!

This latest board book in Jones’ ROYGBaby series continues to explore key concepts in a baby’s world. It prompts young readers to consider parts of their bodies—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and hands—and relate them to their five senses. An endearing young child, brown-skinned with short, dark hair, acts as guide. The rhyming text is simple and short, building anticipation with just one line on each double-page spread, one per sense. “My eyes see… / something round.” On the verso, the child’s eyes are open wide, and on the recto are the silhouettes of balloons. Most of the objects in silhouette are simple and familiar and are shown on a colored, patterned background that varies with each page turn. “My nose smells… / a yummy treat” shows popcorn, which may be the only silhouette difficult for readers to distinguish. The final double-page spread shows multiethnic children enjoying the protagonist’s birthday party, with all the clues shown before in silhouette presented in full color and labeled.

Presenting nonfiction in a fun and interesting manner for our youngest readers, this delightful board book will keep kids engaged. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-936669-62-2

Page Count: 14

Publisher: blue manatee press

Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019

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MOO, BAA, FA LA LA LA LA!

Cute and sprightly but not a standout.

Deck the stalls?

A bevy of barnyard animals, a cat, and some dogs get fully into the Christmas spirit by sprucing up the farm with colorful decorations, including holly berries and sparkling baubles. They have a great time and sing while going about their merry chores in a manner somewhat in keeping with the rhythm of the classic tune “Deck the Halls.” (In fact, a flock of sheep are shown holding song sheets for it.) As might be expected with these particular celebrants, some of the familiar lyrics are altered just a bit; for instance, “boughs of holly” is “translated” as “cows and holly.” Adult readers expecting the rhythm here to work exactly as it does in the original will be disappointed, because it doesn’t—it’s clunky. This is merely a brief, lightweight spoof of the familiar ditty, so it’s recommended that grown-ups read rather than sing this—except for that final line!—to very young targeted audiences, who may be unfamiliar with the actual song anyway. Some fun is still to be had in the illustrations, however. The spirited, wittily expressive animal characters are depicted having a fine time romping about and producing a variety of onomatopoeic sounds throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Cute and sprightly but not a standout. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-66591-435-2

Page Count: 16

Publisher: Boynton Bookworks

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022

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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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