Both baby twins and a grandma-centered storyline add range to the new-baby shelf.
Can Poppy learn to share her beloved GeeGee with her new twin baby sisters?
Poppy, an anthropomorphic bunny, is excited both about her new baby sisters and about GeeGee’s two-week visit. Kids at school remember that GeeGee always does crafts with Poppy, but veteran older siblings also warn her that the babies may monopolize GeeGee’s time. When the latter proves true, Poppy’s rabbit nose is decidedly out of joint, and she starts resenting the babies and her grandmother. She acts out, making messes and deciding that GeeGee is the “worst grandma” and the twins are the “worst babies.” Exasperated after one terrific mess, GeeGee sends Poppy to her room, and in a contemplative spread that slows down time by showing Poppy seven times in one scene, she reflects on her actions and comes up with a plan to make things right and not “be the worst big sister.” The about-face she undergoes as she enlists friends to plan a welcome party for the babies and GeeGee might strike some as far-fetched. Also potentially implausible is just how laid-back and open Poppy’s parents are to having a great big party while parenting newborn twins. Despite such quibbles, Bonnet’s emotive, energetic illustrations help create memorable characters, especially in their depiction of rocker, biker GeeGee and through Poppy’s dramatic facial expressions (especially the scowls).
Both baby twins and a grandma-centered storyline add range to the new-baby shelf. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58089-770-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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
SEEN & HEARD
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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