A playful romp.
Die-cut holes transform shapes into smiling critters.
Little ones are presented with some abstract lines and dots on the left-hand side of each double-page spread, accompanied by open-ended questions, such as “Who could this be?” Die-cut holes, in a variety of abstract shapes, appear on the right-hand page, and simplified faces peer out. When readers turn the page, two new animals are unveiled. An ellipse-shaped hole produces both a fish and a frog’s head, and a semicircle creates both a cat’s face and a bunny’s. With simple, inviting graphics in cheery, flat colors, Yonezu’s art steals the show. The cleverest reveal is the crosshatch shape that turns into the snout of a crocodile. On the final spread, toddlers see an unframed, smiling face accompanied by the query, “Now who’s smiling?” When youngsters close the book they see the cartoon face of a light-skinned baby grinning through the die-cut hole—it’s a pity that the introduction of this lone human character blunts the book’s inclusivity. As many toddlers (and adults) will be hard-pressed to guess what the abstract shapes will transform into, they will enjoy the die-cut format and the friendly faces inside.
A playful romp. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: May 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-988-8341-03-0
Page Count: 28
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
A sweet but standard-issue Christmas read.
Little ones are taught their ABCs with Christmas iconography.
A CAT nibbles on a candy cane, and FOXES sing holiday carols, while LANTERNS glow and ORNAMENTS sparkle on festive trees. Christmas is in the air, and so are the letters of the alphabet. Each letter gets a corresponding Christmas illustration, charmingly colored and cozily composed. The easily read text beneath each picture forms rhyming couplets (“GEESE with gumdrops stacked up tall. / HOME is where we deck the halls”), with the key word set in all caps. The imagery mixes spiritual and secular icons side by side: there are baby JESUS, SANTA, the “Three kind KINGS,” and (a little mystifyingly) “UNICORNS donning underwear.” The warm color palette draws little readers in, and the illustrations have a gingerbread-cookie aesthetic, though there is no real attempt to include Christmas traditions such as luminaria from nondominant cultures. The picture that groups a stereotypical Eskimo, an igloo, and some penguins will madden many readers on both cultural and geographical fronts.
A sweet but standard-issue Christmas read. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7624-6125-7
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
As with many holiday gifts, the sparkly packaging may interest toddlers more than what’s inside.
Readers can count down eight of Santa's reindeer as they jump up and out of the scene.
In each one of the mostly double-page spreads, one reindeer, from Dasher to Blitzen, plays a central role in a winter activity (sledding, ski jumping, ice skating—and soccer and yoga?) that launches the creature into the air. Glitter-speckled tabs, each with small portraits of a member of Santa's herd, appear at either the top or the right side of each page, which little fingers will enjoy flipping. In what looks to be pencil-and-watercolor cartoons, Rogers uses different facial expressions, as well as collars, bows or other accessories, to distinguish the reindeer from one another. Donner (not Donder) and Blitzen are squeezed together on the penultimate spread, likely to keep the page count down. The verse mostly scans, but the rhyme scheme has become the cliché of counting books: "Eight jolly reindeer / stretching up to heaven. / Up goes Dasher / and then there are... // Seven...." Santa, his iconic sleigh and the eight reindeer in flight make a dramatic and required appearance on the book's final double-page spread.
As with many holiday gifts, the sparkly packaging may interest toddlers more than what’s inside. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-65145-5
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
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