A clever, dapper package.
A fashion lookbook for the preschool set—including a soup pot and a skirt made of envelopes?
Influential artist Chwast eschews the normal “getting dressed” picture-book theme in favor of a much more creative ploy. Socks, shirts, pants and underwear all make an appearance, but so do funnels, paintbrushes and feather dusters. Instead of telling youngsters how to get dressed, Chwast encourages them to think about the adventures the outfit could inspire. Why, for instance, would one wear a floral jumpsuit, sunglasses and a fan? Flip open the gatefold to reveal a girl blending into a leopard-inhabited garden, with the sage advice: “Get dressed to hide.” Or the outfit made up of a bath towel, rubber gloves, boxer shorts and rain boots? Lift the flap to find a boy flying, with a towel cape around his neck. The accompanying text: “Get dressed to make believe.” Chwast’s wacky (and yet some, quite normal) combinations are sure to encourage young fashionistas to be comfortable with their own personal style. Even the cover, designed as a suit jacket that fastens with a magnetic snap, invites readers to open a world of possibilities. Sturdy, card-stock pages stand a good chance of making it through multiple reads.
A clever, dapper package. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0107-8
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
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)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
We’ll say it: a toothsome experience.
Flash those pearly whites!
Renowned poet Florian’s jaunty rhymes suggest that a hygiene ritual many children consider bothersome can be “fun! fun! fun!” Each spread features lively scenes showing kids demonstrating tooth- and mouth-cleansing techniques as well as two couplets in which the second exclamatory lines—containing a word repeated three times—rhyme with each other (“Toothpaste on the / brush! brush! brush!” “Take your time. / Don’t rush! rush! rush!”). Parents and caregivers seeking an enjoyable, stimulating way to motivate youngsters to perform this important daily task may wish to recite the rollicking verses to provide a pleasant, rhythmic, chanting “background” whenever their kids wield their toothbrushes. The colorful, energetic illustrations depict happy, wide-eyed, racially diverse small children—some with missing teeth—taking care of their oral-hygiene business with gusto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
We’ll say it: a toothsome experience. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4998-1340-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
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