Challenging, fascinating, and fun, this book is entertaining for adults and children to enjoy together.
Can you find the smiling purple eggplant in a page filled with different shades of purple? The basketball in a similarly orange page?
Each double-page spread in this large search-and-find book focuses on a different color, hiding everyday objects for children to find. “Can you find it in…yellow?” Six different objects, animate and inanimate, shown on each right hand page are hidden on the opposite one, concealed in the asymmetrical, complex, mosaiclike pieces of different shapes and in many vibrant shades of that one color. For yellow, they are a bee, a slice of lemon, a block of cheese, a duck, a banana, and a pencil. A bonus question at the bottom of the page shows one shape—for yellow, a diamond—for readers to find as well. Although most of the objects are familiar to young children, their shapes are spiky and angular, in keeping with the mosaic-inspired composition on the verso, which makes them challenging but interesting to spot. The darker colors, especially black, are especially difficult, but the other pages are vibrant and colorful. The extra-large size of this book facilitates the game but may make it difficult to fit in standard board-book shelves.
Challenging, fascinating, and fun, this book is entertaining for adults and children to enjoy together. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-91027-774-4
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Words & Pictures
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
An inventive and extensive counting experience that will delight youngsters.
Shaped pages help youngsters count to 10 and beyond.
Two stylish double-page spreads are devoted to each number one through 10 and then, counting by 10s, to 100. In the first spread, the right-hand side is a page-high, die-cut numeral that spills off the page; to its left, a squirrel holds an acorn. With the turn of the page, there’s a transformation. “One acorn becomes… / one oak tree!” A portion of the object, animal or person being altered is visible through the die-cut openings; a sand castle peeks through the “0” of the number 10, for instance. Once the page is turned, the background from the previous left-hand page merges with the full double-page spread. As in the earlier Alphablock (2013), the helpfulness of these visual hints is uneven. After 10, 20 caterpillars become 20 butterflies, 30 baskets of cucumbers become 30 jars of pickles, and 40 eggs become 39 chicks and one dinosaur. The whole shebang ends with 100 puzzle pieces fitting together into “one big puzzle!” in the book’s only double gatefold. Peskimo’s muted color palette and droll cartoon style works well with the playful concept. The same worries about the binding that arose with Alphablock are an issue here, but the conceit will likely appeal to older children anyway.
An inventive and extensive counting experience that will delight youngsters. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1374-3
Page Count: 94
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
Especially for fans of big trucks and machinery.
When hard work needs to get done, who’re you gonna call?
Young construction-vehicle mavens will enjoy this fun romp that takes them through a cheery bright-orange excavator’s typical workday: crushing garbage and loading it into a dump truck; helping with the installation of a new water pipe after the old one broke and spewed water through a city street; and digging a deep, wide hole in which to plant the mayor’s new tree. Through all these tough, painstaking tasks, the excavator “wears” an ever present smiling face, headlights standing in for large, bright eyes. Jaunty verses that mostly read and scan well narrate the brisk proceedings, and listeners are likely to want to chime in whenever the excavator’s assistance is called for in refrains such as “We need you, Orange Excavator!”—set in orange type, of course. The unfamiliar word excavator in itself should excite little ones because of its length, juicy mouth feel, and aural appeal. Kids will also appreciate the lively, though generic, illustrations; enhancing visual interest are several words throughout set in larger, colored capitals. The excavator’s driver is brown-skinned; other workers and passersby are diverse in skin tone and age. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Especially for fans of big trucks and machinery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-20240-1
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
