by Xavier Deneux ; illustrated by Xavier Deneux ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2018
Excellent for little hands to explore and with inviting and age-appropriate illustrations.
Tactile illustrations of jungle animals in a bold, striking palette.
Originally published in France as La jungle des animaux, this board book contains very little text—simple labeling of the animals in the illustration—but packs its punch in images. On each page, certain key pieces of the illustrations are raised. For example, the images of crocodiles reveal only their snouts and eyes slinking across the water, and the eyes are slightly raised for little fingers to touch. With essentially no words, Deneux conveys what it feels like to see a crocodile in the water and the essence of its movements. Other striking illustrations of a chameleon, panther, toucan, parrot, and (toothless, open-mouthed) piranhas make excellent use of background and contrasting colors to showcase the animals. Not every page is a knockout: The snake looks disappointingly like a worm. The birds that share a page with the crocodiles and the fish being chased by piranhas aren’t named, while every other animal is, down to ants and a spider, both of which are about to become food. Those issues aside, young readers on laps will enjoy the physical exploration of the book, while the contrasting, bold colors make the illustrations easy to see and understand.
Excellent for little hands to explore and with inviting and age-appropriate illustrations. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 979-1-02760-366-4
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
illustrated by Xavier Deneux
More by Xavier Deneux
BOOK REVIEW
by Xavier Deneux ; illustrated by Xavier Deneux ; adapted by Christopher Franceschelli
BOOK REVIEW
illustrated by Xavier Deneux
BOOK REVIEW
adapted by Christopher Franceschelli ; illustrated by Xavier Deneux
by Andrew Knapp ; illustrated by Andrew Knapp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
Share your opinion of this book
More by Andrew Knapp
BOOK REVIEW
by Andrew Knapp ; photographed by Andrew Knapp
by Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Jane Ray ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Nicola Davies
BOOK REVIEW
by Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Emily Sutton
BOOK REVIEW
by Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Jenni Desmond
BOOK REVIEW
by Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Catherine Rayner
© 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.