With its enjoyable read-aloud rhythm and animal antics, this board book “takes the cake!” (Board book. 1-4)
In this pleasing cumulative tale, a cake waits atop a tall tower, and a group of animals collaborates to reach the sweet treat.
Bear spots the tempting dessert, but how to reach it? Pig’s arrival presents a solution, and page by page, a series of hungry animals arrives to stack themselves higher. The surprising ending in which a child takes the cake from inside the tower feels a tad anticlimactic—those animals went through all those contortions for nothing? However, since the child shares with the group, it’s a tasty-enough conclusion. While the repetitive refrain that laments that “the cake is so far up” and the animals “so far down” has a gentle appeal, the playful onomatopoeias that introduce each new animal arrival—“FLIP FLIP FLAP”; “BOINGA-BOING”—are more rambunctious and highly satisfying to read aloud. Thinly lined, digitally rendered illustrations and matte colors are somewhat flat but do emphasize the animals’ silly poses and looks of concentration, and a tall, narrow trim size complements the theme. Strasser’s choice to group the animals and tower on the right page while isolating the next animal to arrive on the left encourages pre-readers to make predictions and read along. Observant toddlers will delight in watching a crow inch across a clothesline to triumphantly grab the cake’s tasty cherry.
With its enjoyable read-aloud rhythm and animal antics, this board book “takes the cake!” (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58089-848-5
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another branded entry that offers little beyond the minimum requirements.
The Pout-Pout Fish brand expands.
Halloween is here, and Mr. Pout-Pout Fish is giving out treats from his submarine home. Those familiar with the blue striped fish will find the usual uncluttered illustrations and rhyming scheme (“Who’s at the helm / of the spooky submarine? // It’s you, Mr. Fish! / Have a happy Halloween!”). New readers may be drawn in by the colorful costumes the various fish wear as they trick-or-treat along the ocean floor. Keen-eyed readers with some pumpkin-carving experience may wonder how a jack-o’-lantern can be lit under water. This board book is a fairly standard look at Halloween, putting a popular character in common holiday trappings and adding nothing else. Fans of the holiday will have to look elsewhere for a more exciting take on Halloween’s thrills.
Another branded entry that offers little beyond the minimum requirements. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30191-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As warm as a hug from Grandma.
Grandma is the star in dozens of picture books for older children, but seldom is the special bond between a toddler and their grandmother portrayed in a book for very young children.
This sweet, but not saccharine, board book fills that gap. Thankfully, this grandma does not have Alzheimer’s and is not dying. She simply delights in spending time with her cherished grandchild. The narrator, a charming bear cub, is not identified as male or female, which makes it easy for both girls and boys to insert themselves in the story. Each of the six rhyming couplets is spread across double-page spreads: “I love the fun we have each day, / And all the funny things you say.” Even in its small board-book trim size, there is still plenty of room for the winsome watercolors to highlight the familiar yet memorable rituals of a day spent with a loving and patient grandma. Note: “Rory Tyger” is the collective pseudonym for the British artistic team of Richard Greaves, Tracey Simmons, and Gabrielle Murphy. Their illustrations were originally used in Good Night, Sleep Tight by Claire Freedman (2003). In that story, the little bear is resisting bedtime. This reworking is a gentle and conflict-free ode to the special love between little bear and a doting grandma.
As warm as a hug from Grandma. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-524-7
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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