The game element doesn’t fly, but the art and interactive panels will attract toddler interest.
Peek through sliding panels to discover all manner of insects and small creatures.
Though the “critters’’ might be little, this is one hefty board book! While the series of eight sliding panels clustered on the recto of each spread makes the book’s solid cardboard construction essential, they also make it unwieldy. The back-cover proclamation that this a “great take-along travel activity” notwithstanding, this is not a book caregivers will toss in a diaper bag. Opening the book, readers find a vibrant landscape on the verso of each spread, with five distinct habitats including watery pond, cheery meadow, and eye-catching nocturnal scene. Clearly labelled bugs and creatures mill about, with a satisfying mix of common (ladybugs) and uncommon (weevils) bug and animal species. Opposite the scene, eight smoothly moving panels hide four matching pairs. Though there are general suggestions of games to play with the panels written in itty-bitty text, the list of ideas (match the animals, locate them on the scene, hide the critters, and play I spy) feels half-hearted and repetitive at best. Better are the cartoon illustrations that make spiders, bats, and mosquitoes look as friendly as these creatures can, with large eyes and unobtrusive smiles. Intense, almost garish primary colors are forcefully cheerful.
The game element doesn’t fly, but the art and interactive panels will attract toddler interest. (Novelty/board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-2-40802-465-9
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While it suffers from redundancy of form, the gamelike structure makes this book a nifty choice for engaging young readers...
In this game-based book, readers play matching and look-and-find games featuring animals in various habitats.
This book version of the traditional matching game involving playing cards invites readers to find animal pairs, play I Spy, and seek-and-find. Every two-page spread features animals that live in the same habitat: forest, savanna, ocean, polar ice, and field. The left side of each layout features Mercier’s cartoon-cute illustrations of the animals, while the right side shows some of those same animals hidden behind sliding squares. These squares are an unusual inclusion in a board book and provide great motor-skill practice for little readers. Each habitat includes four activity prompts. While “Find a Pair” and “Look and Find” are nearly identical throughout, “Time to Hide” and “I Spy” are tailored to the specific featured animals. The “I Spy” questions do engage readers’ thinking around such concepts as aboveground/underground and colors; however, as a set, the prompts are formulaic and predictable. On the up side, featured animals include the familiar (elephant, squirrel, butterfly) alongside those that may be new to readers (musk ox, moray eel, pangolin), and the structure of the book allows readers to explore and utilize it in ways beyond the obvious.
While it suffers from redundancy of form, the gamelike structure makes this book a nifty choice for engaging young readers during travel or at a restaurant. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-2-74599-548-3
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Overall, disappointing.
A bunny, a kitten, a puppy, and a chick travel along lightly textured, color-coded “finger trails” displayed against white backgrounds in this busy addition to the Follow the Trail series.
An introductory spread instructs, “Use your finger to follow the trails,” while text points out when the path proceeds straight, loops, or zigzags. Shapes the reader will encounter on later pages are introduced, as well as the die-cut circle that foreshadows the animal that will be featured on the next page, a semiregular feature. The final spread serves as review, with the ribbons of color entwined. The four spreads in between—one for each animal—are dotted with animal facts and words of encouragement along the path that each animal follows to reach its toy or food. Some words in bold give directions; others are nouns, adjectives, and the animal’s sounds. Each animal is represented by a mix of photos and small graphics along its colored path. Farm, published simultaneously, uses the same formula to introduce a tractor, a hen and chicks, a cow and sheep, and piglets. With minimal information, these board books are unlikely to engage beginning readers, while the surfeit of required skills, confusing layout, and complex vocabulary are not appropriate for kids who need sturdy board books.
Overall, disappointing. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4654-6562-7
Page Count: 14
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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