A sweet, simple addition to the parade of pedagogical books about sharing.
Playtime isn't easy when you have three toys and four kids—or is it?
Amy is very attached to her blankie, Bear, Bunny and Bird. “I love you all,” she tells them, “because we're together and you're MINE.” Enter twins Zack and Jack to disturb her halcyon moment. “Can we play?” they ask, but without waiting for a definitive answer, they pick up Bear and Bunny and carelessly toss them in the air. Next, angry Amy engages the twins in a toy tug of war. Meanwhile, while no one is looking, Baby Joe has entered the scene, taking his place on Amy's blanket and scooping up Bird, which he squeezes and kisses. When Amy sees her toy has been confiscated, she snatches it away. Baby Joe stands small and alone on the page, eyebrows slanted upward in distress, smile turned to frown. The sight of the woebegone baby stops all three. “He's all alone…without a toy,” the twins observe. Amy has the solution. The illustrations. rendered in vibrant colored pencil and acrylic, have no background—only a simple horizon line, which keeps the focus on the characters. The human figures have sizable faces, emphasizing their expressions and emotions. Sharp-eyed readers will see that the toys themselves are troubled by the strife, and their smiling faces (and beaks) reflect their happiness when fair play resumes.
A sweet, simple addition to the parade of pedagogical books about sharing. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6888-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sure to have little ones giggling.
Jacques is a hedgehog with a big secret: “I wear real, bona fide underwear.”
Our narrator received a mysterious package one day; an illustration shows a pair of underwear tied to a balloon with a note “from the Universe” floating down into Jacques’ burrow. Hedgehogs don’t wear underwear, however. Will Jacques be shunned? Jacques worries but comes to a decision: “I have to wear them. When I do I feel special.” Determined, Jacques, who’s been invited to a party, makes a dramatic entrance, with undies in hand. Jacques’ declaration (“I WEAR UNDERWEAR”) is met with remarks of dismay, before another hedgehog opens up about similar fears and shows off a pair of cowboy boots. More hedgehogs introduce themselves with their own confessions. The story ends with Jacques unveiling a painting of the underwear in a gallery filled with hedgehogs wearing all sorts of attire. Though the book is simple in plot, characters, and setting, it wins in its balance of bathroom humor, dramatic storytelling, and celebrations of individual expression. French words are peppered throughout, adding to the fun without detracting from the story for those unfamiliar with the language. The cartoonish illustrations brim with fun; Valdez relies heavily on geometric shapes (triangle noses for the hedgehogs; huge circles for their eyes). Details such as speech bubbles and recurring turtle and snake characters contribute to the outlandish humor.
Sure to have little ones giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781250814388
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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