Next book

PANDA OPPOSITES

An adorable, beautifully designed book that will make children and adults giggle.

The antics of a series of fluffy panda cubs provide the perfect opportunity to learn opposites.

On each double-page spread of this book, mischievous, fuzzy panda cubs demonstrate a different set of opposites. Each page is designed simply, featuring photographs of pandas shot in their natural habitats paired with simple, bold words set in capital letters. Nature photographer Eszterhas (Baby Animals Playing, 2017) has curated a set of images that are both perfectly illustrative and delightfully tongue-in-cheek, rendering this book both educationally sound and a pleasure to read. The pictures alternate between filling the page and having a black or white border, depending on the concept being presented, and the changing designs break up what could otherwise feel like a monotonous repetition of similar images. The simple color scheme and clean design make it visually appealing to very young children, and the clear, capital letters make it an ideal text for children who are learning how to read. While the majority of the photographs are easy to interpret, a few—including the panda demonstrating “full” and the pandas demonstrating “asleep” and “awake”—are not as intuitive and may require a caregiver to provide an explanation. Luckily, the photographs will appeal to all ages, making it easy to read the book over and over again, no matter how old—or young—readers may be.

An adorable, beautifully designed book that will make children and adults giggle. (Board book. 1-4)

Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-77147-330-9

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Owlkids Books

Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019

Next book

SHAPES ALL AROUND

Don’t judge this book by its cover; there’s an unusual concept and whimsical illustrations hiding underneath

A series of solid shapes substitute for natural objects in this board book that is somewhere between concept book and riddle game.

What’s that shape supposed to be? Running across a rust-brown labeled triangle, amid trees and elk, the text “Climb a TRIANGLE to the top” suggests the shape is a mountain; in an ocean scene with a red “STAR washed in on the waves,” the shape implies a sea star. Ample visual cues give young readers enough context to guess what the shape evokes, with some unexpected touches, such as “HEXAGON” printed on hexagonal honeycombs buzzing with bees and surrounded by golden flowers. Short, commanding sentences keep things humming, but with only six shapes covered, the book feels all too brief. Illustrator Devernay combines delicate pencil line drawings and sketchy gray-black shading with tiny, meticulously cut colored-paper collage to create her plants and animals. The most intimate drawings amaze. Close-ups of smooth stones are so appealing that readers will long to pick one up and “rub a smooth OVAL between thumb and finger.” Sadly, the cover doesn’t do the interior justice, and things get murky when several hues mix there and on the final spread. But on other spreads, where there’s a single color, it pops against the gray, such as the minute yellow beaks on the flock of charcoal birds circling the yellow “CIRCLE” sun.

Don’t judge this book by its cover; there’s an unusual concept and whimsical illustrations hiding underneath . (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: March 13, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-56846-317-9

Page Count: 14

Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Next book

WHERE DO YOU POOP?

A fun, new take on droppings.

Youngsters can learn about where and how various animals, domestic and wild, relieve themselves.

Via a pull-tab embedded in each recto (not, thankfully, in the rectum) readers can see the before and after, and a goldfish in a bowl leaves a trail while swimming. The verso asks each creature where it does its business, and then a (sometimes-forced) rhyming quatrain, translated from Italian, answers the question: “And where do YOU poop, mouse? / When inside my tummy / Starts to feel not so good / It’s time for a poop / On these chips made of wood!” The final double-page spread queries readers: “And where do YOU poop?” A redheaded, White toddler’s face is visible below this question; the pull-tab on the right opens a bathroom to reveal a White toddler, this time with medium brown hair, happily and modestly sitting on a blue toddler potty. The accompanying quatrain provides some developmentally appropriate guidance for feeling the signs of a movement coming on. Baruzzi’s art is droll and graphically clean (inasmuch as the depiction of excrement can be described that way). Little fingers may need some help finding the relatively easy-to-open and sturdy pull-tabs, since they blend into each page. It works as both a biology lesson and potty-training encouragement.  

A fun, new take on droppings. (Novelty board book. 18 mos.-3)

Pub Date: May 11, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-66265-042-0

Page Count: 16

Publisher: minedition

Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021

Close Quickview