Offers nothing unique in a market full of concept books about shapes
Against stark-white pages, identical red triangles, identical yellow squares, and identical blue circles are arranged and rearranged into familiar items amid a text heavily punctuated with exclamation marks.
The page facing the title page is encouraging: one of each of the shapes—with smiling face and matching boots, as on the cover—stands facing readers. The bold, black text beneath says, “Let’s play!” After that, the shapes become faceless and legless, but the text retains a forced cheerfulness and excitement to convey rather prosaic instructions. “March, little triangles, with a one, two, three!” appears above three identical red triangles on the verso. The illustration on the opposite page shows one additional, small triangle on the bottom next to a large triangle created from 16 smaller ones, topped by “Let’s build a BIG triangle!” After the squares make a big square, the circles bounce around. Eventually, all three shapes together create such things as houses, trees, and a train. (“So let’s be a train! Chugga…CHOO CHOO!”) Inexplicably, there is a weird, incorrect nod to physics when the text says of circles, “The more of us there are, the HIGHER we’ll go!” The book cries out for interaction, such as identical tiles for little hands to place over the three shapes in their primary colors, but without it, it’s a strangely passive experience; readers may wish to explore the app of the same name.
Offers nothing unique in a market full of concept books about shapes . (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9038-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
An inventive and extensive counting experience that will delight youngsters.
Shaped pages help youngsters count to 10 and beyond.
Two stylish double-page spreads are devoted to each number one through 10 and then, counting by 10s, to 100. In the first spread, the right-hand side is a page-high, die-cut numeral that spills off the page; to its left, a squirrel holds an acorn. With the turn of the page, there’s a transformation. “One acorn becomes… / one oak tree!” A portion of the object, animal or person being altered is visible through the die-cut openings; a sand castle peeks through the “0” of the number 10, for instance. Once the page is turned, the background from the previous left-hand page merges with the full double-page spread. As in the earlier Alphablock (2013), the helpfulness of these visual hints is uneven. After 10, 20 caterpillars become 20 butterflies, 30 baskets of cucumbers become 30 jars of pickles, and 40 eggs become 39 chicks and one dinosaur. The whole shebang ends with 100 puzzle pieces fitting together into “one big puzzle!” in the book’s only double gatefold. Peskimo’s muted color palette and droll cartoon style works well with the playful concept. The same worries about the binding that arose with Alphablock are an issue here, but the conceit will likely appeal to older children anyway.
An inventive and extensive counting experience that will delight youngsters. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1374-3
Page Count: 94
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
There is always room in the Easter basket for a counting book, and many readers may appreciate having another simple,...
A cheerful brown bunny hiding behind the edges of an Easter basket looks just as surprised as young children will be to find the chicks revealed as each egg “hatches.”
With help from a reading partner, young children are encouraged to count down the eggs as they disappear with each page turn. Alternatively, they can count up as the chicks are revealed. A simple phrase at the top of each right-hand page states the number of eggs in the basket. The line at the bottom (half of a rhyming couplet) tells how many chicks readers should look for. The numbers are spelled out, requiring young children to recognize the word instead of the more familiar numeral. On the left-hand page, the spaces previously occupied by an egg begin to fill with meadow plants and critters, eventually becoming a scene as busy and cheerful as a greeting card. This book begs to be touched. Each egg is made of shaped plastic that protrudes through die-cut holes on the verso; they can be pressed but seem to be securely anchored. The pastel chicks are lightly flocked, providing an additional tactile experience. Although the pages are thicker than paper, young fingers may find the holes a convenient way to grip (and possibly tear) the pages.
There is always room in the Easter basket for a counting book, and many readers may appreciate having another simple, nonreligious holiday book. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-74730-1
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
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