Well designed and produced, but no swan.
A verdant garden of options and interactive features is smothered by bland art and woeful versification.
Stumbling and forcibly rhymed lines like “He almost ran away, he didn’t want them all to see / How different he was from them, not graceful and lovely,” tell the familiar tale. A “big, fat and gray” hatchling (actually pure yellow when first seen, later acquiring gray blotches) wanders through grassy settings and tidy interiors festooned with flowers, mushrooms, pet and woodland animals, household and other items—most of which will hop, paddle, sway, chuckle, buzz, clatter or otherwise respond to touches—to his eventual epiphany. Menus accessible from the title page and every subsequent screen allow the verses to be displayed or removed at will, an audio narration or a self-recorded one to run as an alternative to silent reading, quick skipping via a strip of thumbnail page images and a full auto option for passive or group viewing. A completist-pleasing “Tips” button identifies all of the touchable features in a scene with tiny blue hands. The illustrator, the writer and Hans Christian Andersen go uncredited, which is for the best.
Well designed and produced, but no swan. (iPad storybook app. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: TabTale
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
The lifecycle of the frog is succinctly summarized in this easy reader for children reading at the late first-grade level. In just one or two sentences per page, Vern details the amazing metamorphosis of the frog from egg to tadpole to adult, even injecting a little humor despite the tight word count. (“Watch out fly! Mmmm!) Large, full-color photographs on white backgrounds clearly illustrate each phase of development. Without any mention of laying eggs or fertilization, the title might be a bit misleading, but the development from black dot egg to full-grown frog is fascinating. A simple chart of the three main lifecycle steps is also included. Lifecycles are part of the standard curriculum in the early elementary grades, and this will be a welcome addition to school and public libraries, both for its informational value and as an easy reader. (Nonfiction/easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-216304-2
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Green Light/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
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