Too bad the story doesn’t match the app’s technical competence. Luckily, there are enough things to play with inside to make...
This overly cute mystery is admirable without being memorable.
Mother Squirrel, a Disney-worthy critter who wears a giant pink kerchief, loses her acorns to a burglar. Her quest to retrieve them will take her through many parts of the forest before she returns home to discover an unexpected surprise put together by her animal friends. (Spoiler: It’s a surprise party.) Kids may be enchanted by the lush artwork, in which every creature has beautiful, cuddly fur or perfectly pretty feathers. But for adults reading with them, Mother Squirrel's extended hunt soon becomes repetitious, even interminable. Much more interesting than the saccharine story is a set of story challenges, such as an exercise to divide up treats on a scale so both sides are equal in weight or a picture that's revealed by connecting letters of the alphabet. In its presentation and technical bona fides, the app soars. It has easy-to-navigate menus and doesn't trap readers on a page with an activity without allowing some sort of escape hatch to advance the story. A separate page of study activities (Numbers, Shapes, Grouping, etc.) is nicely done and varied enough to stay interesting even if each activity is limited to only a handful of problems.
Too bad the story doesn’t match the app’s technical competence. Luckily, there are enough things to play with inside to make it worth a look anyway. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: WiseKids Corporation
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
Inside a colorful garden, some plants “grow up,” while others “grow down, and still others grow “around and around.” This catchy, rhyming refrain, with some variation, introduces children to an abundance of garden vegetables and legumes, including corn, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, broccoli, beets, green beans, okra, onions and tomatoes, as well as the ambiguous pumpkin, and follows them from seed to plant to lunch. The different plants are shown sprouting under and above ground, and youngsters will delight in the bird- and mole’s-eye perspectives. Energetic watercolor-and-ink illustrations, inhabited by multiracial tots, a farmer, a scarecrow, friendly bugs, worms, crows, rabbits and, of course, a plethora of seeds, plants and produce, are a feast for the eyes and will whet children’s appetites for further knowledge—and for a very healthy lunch. An inviting introduction to the wonder of plants, food and gardening, this charming selection will be a favorite of teachers, students and home readers alike. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-7636-2378-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
Rarely, perhaps never, has so steep an emotional arc been drawn with such utter, winning simplicity.
A little dog and her big ball map an inner life rich in heights of joy and depths of sorrow.
Sticking strictly to pictures—using neutral washes and just a few colors applied in broad, rumpled brushstrokes—Raschka follows floppy-eared Daisy and her large red ball on a walk to the park and a happy chase. Then disaster strikes, when a rougher dog horns in and pops the ball. Even very young viewers will feel Daisy’s pain as she passes in stages through incomprehension, dismay and anger to, at last, a bone-deep sadness that is brilliantly evoked by successive views of the droopy dog slowly sinking into a sofa’s cushions. Doggy delight rekindles, however, when another visit to the park finds the offending pooch and its owner waiting…with a new, blue ball! The final scene of Daisy and ball snuggled together on the sofa positively radiates canine content.
Rarely, perhaps never, has so steep an emotional arc been drawn with such utter, winning simplicity. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-85861-1
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2011
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