Interactions make this simple day on the farm a fun one.
Spend the day on the farm, caring for the animals.
Calling all farmers! Put on your overalls and boots, because we are going to the farm. Readers are first introduced to a sad cow, who just wants to graze the pasture. “Swing” open the gate (flap), and the cow is happy to go. Next, readers meet hungry, unhappy hens. Lift the flap to “sprinkle some food” and see them eating away. Moving along, readers find a pony who needs some primping. Turn down the flap to “brush” its mane and ta-da! The pony’s eyes are visible. Next, readers see an egg that’s too cold. When readers flip the flap to turn on the heat lamp, surprise! A duckling hatches. Oh no! The goat is hungry—move the flap to “feed” it from a bottle. Time to grab the clippers and “swipe” them across the sheep’s fleece. Lift the flap to see the happy, shaved sheep. Next, readers meet the pig from the cover, dismayed by the dust. Turn the flap to “twist the faucet” and make a muddy wallow. Finally, it’s time to pick up the poop. “Grab a shovel” and some grossed-out laughs before flipping the flap to clean it up. Reul’s expressive, funny cartoons give her animals lots of personality, and the highlighted verbs are robust additions to toddlers’ vocabularies.
Interactions make this simple day on the farm a fun one. (Board book. 2-6)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0940-8
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ideal for any community where children count.
A difficult concept is simply and strikingly illustrated for the very youngest members of any community, with a counting exercise to boot.
From the opening invitation, “Living in community, / it's a lot of FUN! / Lets count the ways. / Lets start with ONE,” Nagaro shows an urban community that is multicultural, supportive, and happy—exactly like the neighborhoods that many families choose to live and raise their children in. Text on every other page rhymes unobtrusively. Unlike the vocabulary found in A Is for Activist (2013), this book’s is entirely age-appropriate (though some parents might not agree that picketing is a way to show “that we care”). In A Is for Activist, a cat was hidden on each page; this time, finding the duck is the game. Counting is almost peripheral to the message. On the page with “Seven bikes and scooters and helmets to share,” identifying toys in an artistic heap is confusing. There is only one helmet for five toys, unless you count the second helmet worn by the girl riding a scooter—but then there are eight items, not seven. Seven helmets and seven toys would have been clearer. That quibble aside, Nagara's graphic design skills are evident, with deep colors, interesting angles, and strong lines, in a mix of digital collage and ink.
Ideal for any community where children count. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60980-632-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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