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
In her first children's book, Parton (the country music star) turns one of her songs into a saccharine tale about a girl who is so poor that her mama has to sew her a patchwork coat when the weather turns cold. (Joseph and his coat of many colors are mentioned but never explained.) Despite the girl's love for her coat, she is teased in school, which she counters by trying to explain to her classmates ``that one is only poor/if they choose to be.'' The logic here is as flawed as the grammar, and Sutton's illustrations, while competent, show a well-dressed, happy rural family who look anything but poor. The text is both clumsy and irrelevent (it ends with ``Through life I've remained happy/and good luck is on my side./I have everything that anyone/could ever want from life.'') An apparently autobiographical song that has a hard time standing on its own as a compelling children's story. (Picture book. All ages)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1994
ISBN: 0-06-023413-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
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IN THE NEWS
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
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