While not many books combine the months or seasons with shapes, that’s not enough of a reason for this to take shelf space...
A boy and girl explore shapes through a calendar year.
Beginning in January with “CIRCLE / round, / ready to roll. / Add two sticks, / a carrot, and coal,” the months proceed with few surprises: a heart for February, an egg for March, April showers’ rainbow, a baseball diamond in June, a rectangular pool for July’s heat. August’s an ice cream cone, September celebrates school with a crossing guard’s stop sign, October is a carved orange sphere, the two kids share a pie’s triangles in November, and December’s ice sports some figure eights. That leaves only May, which features a square wooden box filled with flowers. That’s not the only oddity, though: the verses are sometimes clunky, with odd punctuation, and at times they don’t make much sense. “A HALF CIRCLE, / don’t let go. / Showers, sunshine, / a real rainbow!” From the picture, readers won’t get much of a sense of what shouldn’t be let go: the girl isn’t holding anything, and the boy appears to have a strong grip on his umbrella. Ojala digitally illustrates his debut. Brilliant colors, simple backgrounds, and good use of perspective keep the focus on the kids (the boy a redheaded Caucasian, the dark-haired girl olive-skinned and perhaps Latina) and the shapes.
While not many books combine the months or seasons with shapes, that’s not enough of a reason for this to take shelf space from such books as Ellen Stoll Walsh’s Mouse Shapes (2007) or Stella Blackstone’s Ship Shapes (2006). (Picture/concept book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-74100-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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
SEEN & HEARD
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