A charming though not critical addition to this already overstuffed bookshelf.
A sweet die-cut board book invites babies to look at some animals that might be found in a garden.
When the book is closed, shaped pages in increasingly larger sizes allow readers to have a glimpse of all the animals that inhabit this particular garden. Open the book, and: “Tweet, tweet!” A yellow bird—perhaps a chick or a duckling—introduces itself and invites babies and their grown-ups to explore the garden with it. A hedgehog “snuffles” in the leaves; a fish swims in the pond; a cat “stretches” out in the sun; and a playful puppy waits in the doghouse. The companion volume, My Farmyard Home, similarly has shaped, staggered pages that allow all of them to be glimpsed when the book is closed. Here, a just-hatched chick plays host. Meet its friends: a sheep peeping through the fence, a cow in the meadow, and a horse in the stable. Bold colors, cheery, baby-friendly illustrations, and sturdy pages that invite little hands to run their fingers over them will have babies happily “reading.”
A charming though not critical addition to this already overstuffed bookshelf. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0443-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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