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
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on...
An exploration of the human body through colorful photos.
Every other double-page spread labels the individual parts on one major area: head, torso, back, arm and leg. Ethnically diverse boy-girl pairs serve as models as arrows point to specific features and captions float nearby. While the book usefully mentions rarely depicted body parts, such as eyebrow, armpit and shin, some of the directional arrows are unclear. The arrow pointing at a girl’s shoulder hits her in the upper arm, and the belly button is hard is distinguish from the stomach (both are concealed by shirts). Facts about the human body (“Guess what? You have tiny hairs in your nose that keep out dirt”) appear on alternating spreads along with photos of kids in action. Baby Animals, another title in the Look & Learn series, uses an identical format to introduce readers to seal pups, leopard cubs, elephant calves, ducklings and tadpoles. In both titles, the final spread offers a review of the information and encourages readers to match baby animals to their parents or find body parts on a photo of kids jumping on a trampoline.
Clear nonfiction for the very young is hard to come by, and it appears that the Look & Learn series may finally be on the right track despite earlier titles that were much too conceptual for the audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1483-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Peek, and you’ll find a rollicking romp here.
The favorite game of toddlers gets a dino twist.
A large dinosaur tries to outsmart a smaller companion when the duo play peekaboo together. The big dino naïvely believes they won’t be noticed behind or under sundry hiding places, but the little pal always finds their playmate. Young listeners will giggle as the large dino attempts to outwit the little one, but in vain; in every instance, the diminutive, overalls-clad dino calls out a triumphant “Peekaboo!” How come? Is it because thin tree trunks and a potted plant can’t conceal the large dino’s frame? Do the big dino’s bold, flower-print shirts stick out a mile? Even when the large dinosaur attempts an aerial hiding place, they discover that ruse doesn’t, ahem, fly, nor does hiding in a crowd wearing a Where’s Waldo?–esque red-striped cap and T-shirt do any good. In a display of good sportsmanship, the big dino concedes at the end the game was fun. The youngest audiences, all of whom will have likely engaged in marathon peekaboo sessions themselves, will undoubtedly scramble to play again. Besides stimulating playtime, this adorable board book, expressed in lilting rhymes, boosts vocabulary development through the use of some common prepositions (behind, in) and adverbs (here, there, everywhere). The illustrations are sweetly engaging; the round cutout on the front cover invites youngsters to play peekaboo games with adult partners and others. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Peek, and you’ll find a rollicking romp here. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66592-840-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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