This and its companion should give youngsters plenty about which to babble.
Learn to count with Stanley the hamster and his mole pal, Little Woo.
Simple line drawings, bright colors, and engaging animal characters make learning to count good fun in this charming board book. Stanley and Little Woo walk young readers through the numbers from one to 10 as they round up items for a picnic. Numbers and vocabulary are introduced in a series of double-page vignettes as the two friends collect a Jell-O salad, cakes, party hats, balloons, and other items for the picnic that closes the story. Admittedly, there’s not much of a plot at all, but the artwork and characters will engage budding mathematicians. The excitement of the duo as they happily plan a party for their friends is lovely to see as well. The text accompanying the climactic picnic scene asks toddlers to count the attendees. The picnic, the busiest drawing in the book, features many other items that children can count as well. Stanley’s Opposites, published concurrently, is a similarly winning vocabulary builder for young readers, contrasting “asleep” and “awake,” “in” and “out,” “open” and “closed,” “light” and “dark,” and other paired antonyms. The many unrelated contrasts in this companion volume afford even greater opportunity for whimsy and variety in the illustrations.
This and its companion should give youngsters plenty about which to babble. (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-56145-976-6
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Simple, encouraging text, charming photographs, straightforward, unpretentious diversity, and adorable animals—what’s not to...
This entry-level early reader/picture book pairs children with farm animals.
Using a simple, effective template—a full-page photograph on the recto page and a bordered spot photo above the text on the verso—Rotner delivers an amiable picture book that presents racially and ethnically diverse kids interacting (mostly in the cuddling department) with the adult and baby animals typically found on a farm. Chickens, chicks, cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, pigs, piglets, cows, and calves are all represented. While a couple of double-page spreads show the larger adult animals—pigs and cows—without a child, most of the rest portray a delighted child hugging a compliant critter. The text, simple and repetitive, changes only the name for the animal depicted in the photo on that spread: “I like the cat”; “I like the piglet.” In this way, reading comprehension for new readers is supported in an enjoyable, appealing way, since the photo of the animal reinforces the new word. It’s hard to go wrong combining cute kids with adorable animals, but special kudos must be given for the very natural way Rotner has included diversity—it’s especially gratifying to see diversity normalized and validated early, at the same time that reading comprehension is taught.
Simple, encouraging text, charming photographs, straightforward, unpretentious diversity, and adorable animals—what’s not to like? (Picture book/early reader. 2-6)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3833-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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