Together with its companion, two humorous explorations of what it means to take care of a friend.
A child finds out an elephant with the sniffles is a lot of work—and can be contagious to boot!
A brown-skinned child with two cute buns atop her head works very hard to stop her elephant’s sniffles from turning into a sneeze in this lighthearted account. She puts him to bed, sweeps away any allergens, and even brings him a toy to cuddle up with. She soon learns, though, that an elephant in bed can get bored and that he'll need a lot of distracting. In the end, and despite all her efforts, the elephant sneezes. “Oh dear. When your elephant has the sniffles, you just might end up with them too!” The companion volume, When Your Lion Needs a Bath, follows an olive-skinned child attempting to bathe a smelly lion. Sneakiness and an understanding of the lion’s disposition are the main ingredients in this equally lighthearted account. Simple, cartoonlike illustrations against mostly white backgrounds keep the focus on the main characters. The books hit just the right note for children in this age group, who are newly developing empathy and an understanding of others.
Together with its companion, two humorous explorations of what it means to take care of a friend. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9504-2
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.
A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.
Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-611-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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