A miss.
Poor Alan really needs to go!
In a text rife with potty-humor punning, Alan (a blue teddy bear), is in line to go “whizzing down the very tall slide with his friends” at a fair when he starts dancing furiously. Giraffe and others ask why he’s doing this, and he explains “I need to wee!” But he doesn’t want to interrupt his fun to take care of business. Unfortunately, delays, long lines, and other impediments on the way to the potty make the situation “desperate.” Alan searches for quasi-potties but is stymied at every turn: He can’t use a doll’s toilet because it’s the “teeny tiny” one in her dollhouse; Robot objects to his attempted use of a teapot: “It’s…not a wee-pot!”; Magic Rabbit exclaims, “Don’t even think about it!” when Alan nearly pees in its hat. When Alan inadvertently ends up dancing away on stage, he wins first prize in a contest and is awarded a large, gold trophy, which he promptly uses to relieve himself. What happens to the resulting urine is left to readers to ponder, though perhaps many would rather leave the book aside without solving that mystery, since the story’s seemingly interminable chain of events grows tiresome well before its resolution. The busy digital illustrations with a palette verging on the garish don’t offer much relief.
A miss. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9039-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Still, a sturdy and playful introduction to the popular practice of an ancient tradition.
A multihued cast of characters introduce yoga to preschoolers and toddlers.
The binding allows these board pages to open flat for easy use on the mat. Moving through the alphabet, children and animals (and a few other natural objects) illustrate 26 common yoga poses. A light tone is maintained throughout. Engel's initial invitation reminds young yogis and their parents, “Don't worry if you can't get it exactly right—enjoy yourself and be one with nature,” and even in the final resting pose (“Zzzzz”), one of the two children depicted is mischievously peeking. The 9-inch-square format provides room on each page for a playful image of the animal chosen to represent the pose, a child holding the pose, and a rhyming three-line couplet that provides basic instruction about how to take the posture. For easy reference, all 26 poses, along with the proper names of the asanas, are repeated on the final three pages. The concluding brief explanation of yoga feels like an afterthought. Imposing an ABC structure also disrupts the flow, as each asana is shown as an independent pose instead of moving fluidly through vinyasas. Even cat/cow is disconnected, as one is called “Tiger” and the other, five pages away, is called “Yak.” There is also no mention of breath, essential to yoga practice.
Still, a sturdy and playful introduction to the popular practice of an ancient tradition. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63322-146-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Walter Foster Jr.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
While most potty books strike readers as too old or too young, here’s one that almost everyone can agree is (you guessed it)...
A classic fairy tale is cleverly reworked for those transitioning from diapers.
Breaking out buckets o’ charm, Hodgkinson tackles the finicky tendencies of the soon-to-be potty-trained with the aid of a familiar face. Living in the woods with her mommy and daddy (not an ursine porridge-eater to be seen), Goldilocks (unsurprisingly, a blonde, white girl) decides one day that soggy diapers are not ideal. But what underwear suits her best? Nothing too frilly and nothing too silly, but undies that are “just right!” Next comes the search for a potty itself. She rejects a pair of boots as too big and a teacup as too small (child readers may well find this hilarious, even as caregivers sigh in relief when she moves on). Correct potty secured, the final challenge is the hardest, as any toddler will attest. When is it the “just right” time to sit on the potty? Sprinkling her art with images of bear toys, Hodgkinson creates mixed-media illustrations that lend the simple text a peppy tone that encourages young readers to keep trying through their setbacks. And thanks to the easy language, this book proves ideal for a wide range of potty training ages (a nice change of pace from potty books that truck in complex sentence structures).
While most potty books strike readers as too old or too young, here’s one that almost everyone can agree is (you guessed it) just right. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Dec. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9799-0
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
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