Sweet yet unremarkable.
Young children learn to count from one to 100 in both English and Spanish.
Readers familiar with other books in the Canticos family will recognize some of the animals making appearances here, though that familiarity is not required in order to appreciate this book. Brightly hued chicks, elephants, rabbits, spiders, frogs, and others, all with distinctly anthropomorphized and babyish looks, introduce the numbers, counting from one to 10, then by tens to 50, and then 100. Both the numeric symbols and the written words are presented in simple and straightforward double-page spreads, all including the never-miss toddler crowd pleaser: a lift-the-flap window. “3 / Three chickies”; “5 / Five spiders”; “10 / Ten bubbles”; “50 / Fifty apples”; “100 / One hundred raindrops.” Upon lifting the flap, readers find the Spanish version underneath: “3 / Tres pollitos”; “5 / Cinco arañas”; “10 / Diez burbujas”; “50 / Cincuenta manzanas”; “100 / Cien gotas de lluvia.” There is little that is surprising or sparks the imagination in the presentation, but it does the job of introducing the numbers in both languages. Rather than sharing it with babies, adults may find the book better used as a language teaching device with older preschoolers that have an understanding of quantity and numbers and can already count in one or the other language. There is no pronunciation guide for either language, so familiarity with both is assumed.
Sweet yet unremarkable. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-945635-32-8
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Encantos
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale.
The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.
The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages.
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781665990646
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s a bit hard to dance, or count, to this beat.
Dinos that love to move and groove get children counting from one to 10—and perhaps moving to the beat.
Beginning with a solo bop by a female dino (she has eyelashes, doncha know), the dinosaur dance party begins. Each turn of the page adds another dino and a change in the dance genre: waltz, country line dancing, disco, limbo, square dancing, hip-hop, and swing. As the party would be incomplete without the moonwalk, the T. Rex does the honors…and once they are beyond their initial panic at his appearance, the onlookers cheer wildly. The repeated refrain on each spread allows for audience participation, though it doesn’t easily trip off the tongue: “They hear a swish. / What’s this? / One more? / One more dino on the floor.” Some of the prehistoric beasts are easily identifiable—pterodactyl, ankylosaurus, triceratops—but others will be known only to the dino-obsessed; none are identified, other than T-Rex. Packed spreads filled with psychedelically colored dinos sporting blocks of color, stripes, or polka dots (and infectious looks of joy) make identification even more difficult, to say nothing of counting them. Indeed, this fails as a counting primer: there are extra animals (and sometimes a grumpy T-Rex) in the backgrounds, and the next dino to join the party pokes its head into the frame on the page before. Besides all that, most kids won’t get the dance references.
It’s a bit hard to dance, or count, to this beat. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1598-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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