by Templar Books ; illustrated by Lydia Nichols ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2018
The minor flaw in the construction makes this a nonessential purchase for all but the most dino-happy tots
The combination of hide-and-seek and sliders to manipulate with fanciful dinosaurs should guarantee an audience for this board book.
Beginning with the front cover, a smiling green dinosaur is hiding in plain sight in every picture: in a window, behind a sofa, in the shower, in bed, in the freezer. On each page the titular refrain is repeated, followed by a question that hints at where the dinosaur will be found. It doesn’t hurt success that the dinosaur doesn’t really fit in its hiding places. Toddlers will quickly find the clearly marked slider that confirms their guess, sliding the head of one out from behind the sofa or pulling back the shower curtain to reveal another. The book ends with a final affirmation: “I knew I saw a dinosaur. There it is!” The slider on that page makes the dinosaur’s head nod up and down. The format is repeated in the companion volume, I Thought I Saw a Lion, with the lion hiding in a restaurant, costume shop, library, and beauty shop. Digitally produced drawings in a retro palette are reminiscent of mid-20th-century printmaking and folk art. Except for a brown-skinned waiter and a brown-skinned customer getting her straight brown hair cut in the beauty parlor in Lion, the people in both books are white. Unfortunately, the sliders have a tendency to become quite loose after repeat readings and slide when the book is merely tilted.
The minor flaw in the construction makes this a nonessential purchase for all but the most dino-happy tots . (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9945-1
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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More by Gail Armstrong
BOOK REVIEW
by Templar Books ; illustrated by Gail Armstrong
by Maggie Testa ; illustrated by Jason Fruchter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2016
A terrific resource for fans of Daniel Tiger and newcomers alike.
Animated PBS character Daniel Tiger helps readers tell time.
Mr. Rogers–like (explicitly—the show is produced by the Fred Rogers Co.), Daniel Tiger welcomes his neighbors, inviting them to spend the day with him and learn to use a clock along the way. A large clock face with movable hands is accessible through a large, die-cut circle in the upper-right corner of each double-page spread. The hands click and clack as they’re moved around the clock’s face, and the sound is peculiarly satisfying. Each hand has a different noise, helping children to differentiate between the two. Daniel and his family and friends do lots of things throughout the day, including eating breakfast, going to school, running errands, eating dinner, and going to bed. The illustrations emulate the show’s rounded, calmly colored style. Fans of the television show will be entranced. Daniel’s constant engagement with readers will spawn busy interaction, and the fact that this book covers a whole day makes it an excellent read right before bed.
A terrific resource for fans of Daniel Tiger and newcomers alike. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6934-0
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Simon Spotlight
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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by Mike Austin & illustrated by Mike Austin ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2012
Just as visually appealing as the app at first glance, and possibly even more durable—but showing considerable fall-off in...
The blue cat that starred in the excellent app A Present for Milo (2010) makes an awful crossover from the digital domain.
Printed on extra-sturdy boards with folded (rather than glued) flaps, the episode sends Milo in search of his missing ball of string. Led by a helpful mouse, he discovers piles of yarn in various geometric shapes that, once each flap is lifted, reveal common items of the same shape. These range from a square slice of cheese to a triangular piece of pizza to a rectangular granola bar. Meanwhile, behind Milo, two other mice roll up the continual line of multicolored yarn that loops through each cartoon scene so that by the end the ball is restored. Not only is the prose numbingly wooden (“Little mouse,” says Milo, “will you help me find my ball of string?”), it is confusingly phrased. Milo rejects the square because it has “four sides,” which doesn’t distinguish it from the rectangle, and the oval egg isn’t like a ball because it’s “sort of round-ish but also long-ish.” Moreover, the concluding general romp comes off less as a resolution to the plotline than filler for the final spread. In marked contrast to his app incarnation, Milo is no more than a static presence in the art, his body shape even duplicated in some scenes rather than redrawn.
Just as visually appealing as the app at first glance, and possibly even more durable—but showing considerable fall-off in narrative quality and awareness of audience. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: June 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60905-209-6
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Blue Apple
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
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More by Rubin Pfeffer
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by Rubin Pfeffer ; illustrated by Mike Austin
BOOK REVIEW
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Mike Austin
BOOK REVIEW
by Mike Austin ; illustrated by Mike Austin
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