Nice enough but far from a requisite purchase.
A die-cut board book with a simple presentation of the Christmas theme for the youngest ones.
On the cover, a snowman with a die-cut tummy introduces the theme. Layered behind the round, open circle that makes up his body, readers can glimpse pieces of the pages inside. Open the book and meet the well-known elements of a shopping-mall-secular Christmas celebration: reindeer, elf, bag, presents, sleigh, boots, Mrs. Claus, Santa Claus, Christmas tree, Christmas Eve. The elf and both the Clauses are white. The illustrations are colorful and cheery, but the die cuts are at times problematic. For example, two little circles represent buttons for several figures, including the snowman and Santa’s jacket, but appear as baffling holes on a Christmas present and the sleigh. Though the snowman’s body is cleverly built up from the pages behind it, the big open circle means the body of the reindeer on the next page is just an empty void. That empty void carries through on the left-hand pages, and when it gets to Mrs. Claus, it is an awkward empty space between her knees and her tummy. Still, babies will enjoy the transformations occurring as they turn the pages, and the peekaboo element inherent to die cuts is always sure to please.
Nice enough but far from a requisite purchase. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0344-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
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