by Tim Warnes & illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2008
This husband-and-wife team’s addition to the daddy-adoration genre comes out just in time for his big day. An adorable but realistically portrayed cast of animals parades through the pages, daddies with their offspring. One by one, compact rhyming couplets describe the various dads: “Daddy busy / Daddy strong / Daddy slimy / Daddy long.” These pages depict hummingbirds, gorillas, snails and snakes, respectively, each interacting with his children. Many of the adjectives and verbs appear in delightfully descriptive fonts—“fluffy” sprouts soft-looking feathers, while “dirty” shakes off clumps of mud. The gentle rhyme sets the tone for bedtime, and the final spread is the perfect segue to sleep, with a group of daddies hugging their children close. As always, Chapman’s illustrations define the mood and tone for the text. Her animal families are warm and loving, with expressive faces, and she keeps their interactions and activities natural. A cuddly tribute to all the things that make a dad, Dad...and not a bad way to reinforce a child’s concept of adjectives and verbs, either. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: May 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-058950-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2008
Share your opinion of this book
More by Amelia Hepworth
BOOK REVIEW
by Amelia Hepworth ; illustrated by Tim Warnes
BOOK REVIEW
by Ellie Hattie ; illustrated by Tim Warnes
BOOK REVIEW
by Ciara Gavin ; illustrated by Tim Warnes
by Anna McQuinn & illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2010
Lola’s daddy takes her to the library every Saturday, where she finds “excellent books,” and every night her mommy or daddy reads them to her. The next day Lola acts out the story. On Sunday she’s a fairy princess; on Monday she takes her toy animals “on fantastic trips to places like Paris”; on Wednesday she’s a tiger, etc. Each new book and day provides Lola with a variety of tales to play out, with the last one—which is about a wild monster—posing the question, “What will Lola be tomorrow?” The final page shows her in a wolf suit just like Max’s. The library books, the pretending and the incorporation of the days of the week work together as a simple and pleasing premise. Beardshaw’s acrylic illustrations depict the multicultural kids and Lola’s black family with childlike charm, while the title will have librarians, parents and booksellers smiling. Alert: The book will be an invitation for lap kids to follow Lola’s lead—not such a bad thing. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-258-2
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2010
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Anna McQuinn ; illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
by Anna McQuinn ; illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
by Anna McQuinn ; illustrated by Ruth Hearson
More by Anna McQuinn
BOOK REVIEW
by Anna McQuinn ; illustrated by Ruth Hearson
BOOK REVIEW
by Anna McQuinn ; illustrated by Ruth Hearson
BOOK REVIEW
by Anna McQuinn ; illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
by Stephanie Stansbie ; illustrated by Richard Smythe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 3, 2019
Sweet.
A caregiving bear shares with its cub how love has defined their relationship from the first moment and through the years as the cub has grown.
With rhymes and a steady rhythm that are less singsong-y than similar books, Stansbie seems to have hit a sweet spot for this offering on the I-love-you-always shelf. Readers follow the adult and child as they share special moments together—a sunset, a splash in a pond, climbing a tree, a snuggle—and the adult tells the child that the love it feels has only grown. Stansbie also takes care not to put promises in the adult bear’s mouth that can’t be delivered, acknowledging that physical proximity is not always possible: “Wherever you are, / even when we’re apart… // I’ll love you forever / with all of my heart.” The large trim size helps the sweet illustrations shine; their emphasis is on the close relationship between parent and child. Shaped peekaboo windows offer glimpses of preceding and succeeding pages, images and text carefully placed to work whatever the context. While the die cuts on the interior pages will not hold up to rough handling, they do add whimsy and delight to the book as a whole: “And now that you’re bigger, / you make my heart sing. / My / beautiful / wonderful / magical / thing.” Those last three adjectives are positioned in leaf-shaped cutouts, the turn of the page revealing the roly-poly cub in a pile of leaves, three formed by the die-cuts. Opposite, three vignettes show the cub appreciating the “beautiful,” the “wonderful,” and the “magical.”
Sweet. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68412-910-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Dolphin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Stephanie Stansbie
BOOK REVIEW
by Stephanie Stansbie ; illustrated by Elisa Paganelli
BOOK REVIEW
by Stephanie Stansbie ; illustrated by Frances Ives
BOOK REVIEW
by Stephanie Stansbie ; illustrated by Suzie Mason
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
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.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.