Break out the crayons and markers, and put on some dancing shoes—this is sure to inspire on many levels.
The catchy shape song that many will recognize from PBS Kids gets some new verses and some brilliantly colored artwork in this collaboration from SteveSongs and Sim.
Bouncy rhythms and rhymes are sure to get kids singing, and their fingers will itch to draw: “I drew boats out on the water, / I drew a castle on the sand, / I drew a beachside waterslide, / Oh, what a ride! / And I never even had to stand / in line, line, circle, circle, / square, square, square, square, / triangle, triangle…” The premise is that most artwork starts with basic shapes: line, circle, square and triangle. Armed with these four shapes, the things that kids can draw are countless. Sim nicely demonstrates this in his double-page spreads. His busy scenes are full of the four featured shapes, naturally drawing readers’ eyes to them by their placement and color. But he includes other shapes as well: rectangles, ovals and semicircles. As in the PBS Kids video, the illustrations include four multiethnic kids, but here one of them wears a leg brace as well. Quirky, blocky animals that incorporate at least one of the shapes in their body and/or body language also populate Sim’s world. An enhanced CD (not seen) with the song and video is included.
Break out the crayons and markers, and put on some dancing shoes—this is sure to inspire on many levels. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-84686-671-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale.
The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.
The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages.
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781665990646
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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