Though less full-featured than an app, this minimalist interactive story nonetheless holds its own.
A rainy day is rendered in rhythmic wordplay and animated crayon sketches in this interactive iBook.
Falling somewhere between a full-blown iPad app and a standard iBooks-format e-book, this story of children playing in rain and mud feels like a playful experiment. As an introductory page explains, this translation to English “includes onomatopoeia from the original Japanese book.” Younger readers unfamiliar with Japanese may have trouble with these words at first, but iBooks’ “Start Reading” option toggles narration that breezes through bits such as, “Becha-becha, bicha-bicha, guchan-guchan. Gobo-gobo, zaba-zaba, ba-shan ba-shan.” Much of it is repetitive enough to pick up quickly, and hearing it aloud helps immeasurably. Animations throughout are simple and a little rough, but the use of color to highlight characters on black-and-white pages and the ambient sound of rain falling are more than effective enough to convey a mood of joyful outdoor fun. The splashing, romping, raincoat-clad children are skillfully suggested with just a few lines and energetic scribbles; they are clearly having the time of their young lives. The mix of English and Japanese feels just right, and the compositions are simple enough to make the scenes clear. Raincoats and umbrellas can be great fun, and the tongue-twisting beats of the words in this enhanced book are, too.
Though less full-featured than an app, this minimalist interactive story nonetheless holds its own. (Requires iPad 2 and above.) (Enhanced e–picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Kumon Publishing North America
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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