Bright colors and sharp contrast make this baby book a visually appealing first foray into musical instruments.
A simple board book for babies that identifies six musical instruments.
Helenek (My First Book Fruits, 2014) uses simple graphics in both black and bright colors to depict different instruments—trumpet, piano, violin, flute, guitar and saxophone. Each spread focuses on a single instrument, with a large color illustration of the corresponding instrument and its name on the left-hand side as well as smaller illustrations of the instrument in bright colors on the right-hand side. The final spread features all the named instruments in black and white on the left and in their more traditional colors on the right. The simple graphics and bare minimum of text are designed for the youngest of listeners, and the thick, sturdy pages are suited to an audience that might take a bite. Including some photo illustrations along with the graphics would help youngsters identify the instruments in real life. For example, only a single style of baby grand piano is featured, though showing an upright piano could help youngsters make a connection. Similarly, showing musicians using the instruments would be useful. While including all musical instruments may be too much to ask, it’s surprising that drums are absent, since toy drums are a favorite of young children and are probably more common than violins or flutes. That said, the book is only meant as a short introduction, and pairing it with listening to different musical styles or providing the actual toy instruments could help build a musical foundation in babies.
Bright colors and sharp contrast make this baby book a visually appealing first foray into musical instruments.Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0989450522
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Nursery Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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