Readers will want to revisit this visually and textually lively, tactile story over and over again. (Board book. 1-3)
Find Fuzzy Penguin on every page of this delightfully teeming book.
Fuzzy Penguin lives in Antarctica with her penguin friends, penguin family, and a small host of other fascinating creatures, such as whales and seals. Follow Fuzzy through her adventures playing with her friends, waiting for eggs to hatch, swimming in the cold ocean, and, finally, falling asleep at night. If readers want to know what Fuzzy is specifically doing in each panorama, though, they will have to search carefully by either feeling the page until they find her velvety, textured body or scanning for her three-feather topknot. On each spread of this board book, rhyming text tells a short, pithy story about what Fuzzy is doing with her penguin friends and family. The cartoon drawings are filled with action and detail, lending themselves to additional scrutiny and storytelling. Readers will enjoy running their hands across the pages until they feel Fuzzy’s soft body—and, for those with more-advanced reading comprehension, using the clues in the text to locate Fuzzy’s exact spot on the page. The use of repeated onomatopoeia such as “Crack, crack, crack! Scratch, scratch, scratch!” is not only a lot of fun to read aloud, but also an invitation for children to quickly memorize the text and “read” along.
Readers will want to revisit this visually and textually lively, tactile story over and over again. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-53802-1
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead.
An Easter-themed board-book parody of the traditional nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, this effort is just as sugary and uninspired as The Itsy Bitsy Snowman, offered by the same pair in 2015. A cheerful white bunny hops through a pastel world to distribute candy and treats for Easter but spills his baskets. A hedgehog, fox, mouse, and various birds come to the bunny’s rescue, retrieving the candy, helping to devise a distribution plan, and hiding the eggs. Then magically, they all fly off in a hot air balloon as the little animals in the village emerge to find the treats. Without any apparent purpose, the type changes color to highlight some words. For very young children every word is new, so highlighting “tiny tail” or “friends” makes no sense. Although the text is meant to be sung, the words don't quite fit the rhythm of the original song. Moreover, there are not clear motions to accompany the text; without the fingerplay movements, this book has none of the satisfying verve of the traditional version.
Leave the hopping to Peter Cottontail and sing the original song instead. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5621-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer...
Seven years after Little Pookie (2011) first appeared, this popular piglet is finally celebrating Christmas.
“Oh Pookie! Come look! It’s beginning to snow,” says a maternal-looking pig. But where did Pookie go? Past the Christmas tree, to put on a snowsuit of course. Pookie’s ever cheerful mama is willing to go out too. After all, “It’s a magical time to be walking with you.” When she observes, “Our noses are frozen. It’s time to go in,” Pookie protests in typical toddler style: “But I’m not c-c-c-cold!” The next three pages highlight indoor holiday preparations—making paper garlands, baking and decorating cookies. The rhyming text mirrors the spare illustrations. A spidery type that emulates handwriting makes it clear when Pookie is speaking. Then “the doorbell is ringing. / Our family and friends have arrived for the singing.” The second-to-last spread shows Pookie, mama, and six other pigs—and Boynton’s requisite chicken—singing (“Con brio”), “MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! AND A HAP-PY NEW YEAR!” Conveniently, this text is placed beneath the musical notation. Finally Pookie hangs a stocking and goes off to bed without any fuss, anticipating presents on Christmas morning.
The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer or an ideal Christmas Eve read to share with other little piggies. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3724-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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