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ARCTIC ANIMALS

Name: ARCTIC ANIMALS
Author: Tad Carpenter
ISBN: 978-1-4549-1227-9

From the Who's That? series

by Tad Carpenter ; illustrated by Tad Carpenter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 20, 2015

Beautiful, smart, and entertaining.

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Six arctic animals are introduced in this stylized lift-the-flap board book.

Each left-hand page asks, “Who’s that?” and follows it with a few clues: “She is covered in WHITE FEATHERS, has YELLOW EYES, and can turn her head ALMOST ALL THE WAY AROUND.” The right-hand page adds a visual clue, allowing readers a glimpse of the animal in question. Lift the die-cut gatefold flap, and meet “A SNOWY OWL!” The other animals in the book are a seal, a fox, a walrus, a polar bear, and a reindeer. Some other characters make an appearance on the different pages, including squirrels, a snowshoe hare, birds, fish, and a boy and his dog. In the final spread all are united at “A POLAR PARTY!” The illustrations are rendered in different shades of blue and green, conveying an appropriately cold feeling, with just enough yellow to give a pop to the whole. The book can be explored at different levels, from just naming the animals with very young readers to the challenge of guessing the animals with the older ones. And all will enjoy turning the flaps of this sturdily constructed book.

Beautiful, smart, and entertaining. (Board book. 2-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4549-1227-9

Page Count: 16

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
BITTY BOT'S BIG BEACH GETAWAY
by Tim McCanna ; illustrated by Tad Carpenter

- BOOK REVIEW
MONSTER'S NEW UNDIES
by Samantha Berger ; illustrated by Tad Carpenter

- BOOK REVIEW
TUGBOAT BILL AND THE RIVER RESCUE
by Calista Brill ; illustrated by Tad Carpenter

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A KISSING HAND FOR CHESTER RACCOON

From the Kissing Hand series

by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014

Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
CHESTER RACCOON AND THE ALMOST PERFECT SLEEPOVER
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson

- BOOK REVIEW
KAI TO THE RESCUE!
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Mike Yamada

- BOOK REVIEW
A COLOR GAME FOR CHESTER RACCOON
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson

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FIVE BLACK CATS

by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Julia Woolf ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2013

For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.

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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)