What this book lacks in durability it makes up in the sheer abundance of its gimmicks.
Like its concurrently published companion volume, My First Touch, Feel, and Play, this book works better in theory than in practice. Friendly animal characters on the thick, die-cut cover invite young fingers to touch and trace the cutaway shapes embedded in the picture. Inside, six scenarios walk baby through the sights, sounds, and activities of a child’s busy day, including waking, indoor play, a trip to the park, dinnertime, bathing, and bedtime. The vignettes are short on narrative, but the pictures are rich in detail, offering plenty of opportunities for kids and caregivers to interact. Debossed shapes and peekaboo flaps invite a child’s touch, but take fair warning: the flaps are easy prey for a youngster’s firm grip and quick hands. Expect some of the flaps to separate from the book. Fortunately, even minus the freezer-door flap, for example, a charming picture of a mouse feasting on cheese, fruits, and cupcakes remains. Arguably the most entertaining feature of this book, though, is the attached musical device, with 10 easily activated buttons with cute icons that play brief, soothing melodies. The choice of music over vocabulary may seem a missed opportunity, but keying the tunes could occupy children for hours even if they never open the book.
Though fragile, a likely favorite for kids. (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-532-2
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
Did you like this book?
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A comical, fresh look at crayons and color
GET IT
Duncan wants to draw, but instead of crayons, he finds a stack of letters listing the crayons’ demands in this humorous tale.
Red is overworked, laboring even on holidays. Gray is exhausted from coloring expansive spaces (elephants, rhinos and whales). Black wants to be considered a color-in color, and Peach? He’s naked without his wrapper! This anthropomorphized lot amicably requests workplace changes in hand-lettered writing, explaining their work stoppage to a surprised Duncan. Some are tired, others underutilized, while a few want official titles. With a little creativity and a lot of color, Duncan saves the day. Jeffers delivers energetic and playful illustrations, done in pencil, paint and crayon. The drawings are loose and lively, and with few lines, he makes his characters effectively emote. Clever spreads, such as Duncan’s “white cat in the snow” perfectly capture the crayons’ conundrum, and photographic representations of both the letters and coloring pages offer another layer of texture, lending to the tale’s overall believability.
A comical, fresh look at crayons and color . (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-25537-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2021 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
