Not the best thing since sliced bread—but warm and sweet nevertheless.
A title from the pantry shelf for the new-baby bookshelf.
Border’s Bent Objects photography personifies objects like peanut butter–slathered slices of bread, not with anthropomorphic faces but with limbs made of bent wire. Photographed scenes of little Peanut Butter talking with his parents (also depicted as pieces of peanut-buttered bread with wire limbs) while they are baking in the kitchen show him learning he’s going to be a big brother and worrying, “Is it hard?” His dad assures him, “Easy as Pie….You should ask her about it.” This wordplay with the idiom signals the entrance of a new foodstuffs character, Apple Pie, big sister to Blueberry and Cherry. Peanut Butter also seeks advice from Cucumber and Big Cheese. The culminating message that he just needs to be himself and to be loving is affirming, and it’s saved from treacle with a twist at book’s end that shows Peanut Butter arriving home to meet “a whole loaf of little brothers and sisters” and not just a new baby slice of bread. Missteps in pacing and phrasing may confuse readers along the way to this happy, bent ending—for example, a spread introduces little Pepper Jack in a photo before her mention in the text, which could lead some to assume she’s supposed to be her brother Big Cheese, tiny though she is.
Not the best thing since sliced bread—but warm and sweet nevertheless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4006-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A powerful affirmation for all dads—the good, the flawed, and those doing the best they can.
Dedicating his latest to “caregivers who give what they never got,” Caldecott Honor winner Robinson explores complicated feelings around fatherhood.
From the outset, the book appears to be a standard-issue Father’s Day offering, pairing brief, loving sentiments with images of animals. But it soon becomes clear that Robinson has crafted something much more complex. A frog with tadpoles nestled atop his back (“Dad is here”) is followed by an illustration of an owl leaving the nest (“Dad had to go away”). More contrasts are presented: a seahorse keeping his offspring safe in his pouch (“Dad holds on tight”), two shark pups swimming away from their frenzied-looking patriarch (“Dad need lots of space”). “Dad lets you down and makes mistakes” (a porcupine accidentally jabs his little one), but “Dad picks you up and makes you feel safe” (a lion snuggles his cub). And the human fathers we meet next—diverse in skin tone and ability—are equally multifaceted. Robinson outdoes himself, his bold and richly textured paint and collage artwork popping against the background. His artwork is rife with subtleties for careful readers—for instance, the look of uncertainty in the eyes of the gorilla father described as “strong.” For all its simplicity, this colorful book is laden with meaning, depicting fathers as vulnerable, imperfect, gentle, and empathetic—in a word, deeply human.
A powerful affirmation for all dads—the good, the flawed, and those doing the best they can. (more information on the animals presented) (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9781250397041
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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