As word books go, this set offers nothing new, but the presentation is simple and attractive.
Colorful photos introduce babies and toddlers to some everyday foods and clothing in this set of board books.
On each page a different food is presented with a clear and colorful photo on a white background. Each food item is clearly captioned. The usual food items, such as an apple, a banana, and strawberries, are there. But there are also black beans, quinoa, and sweet potato. Of note are the chicken and fish, here represented not as the animal but as the cooked foodstuff. The bilingual companion volume, Food/Los alimentos, gets into tricky terrain, as the biggest variances in the Spanish spoken among the different Spanish-speaking countries are probably found in food. The Spanish words used here for avocado (aguacate), blueberries (arándanos), and sweet potato (boniato) may not be the ones used by particular readers. In Clothes and its companion volume, Clothes/La ropa, different articles of clothing are presented in the same format as above. Again, the same words of caution apply here. “Shirt” is translated as “jersey,” but it is more commonly referred to as “camisa.” And the Spanish words used for jeans (vaqueros), sneakers (zapatillas), and tights (leotardos) may be unfamiliar to some readers.
As word books go, this set offers nothing new, but the presentation is simple and attractive. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4549-1973-5
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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