Sweet, attractive, and engaging.
Animals, fruit, and friendship come together in this lift-the-flap board book.
A cat is hungry and wants to eat some fruit. That should be no problem “I have…1 pear, 1 pineapple, 1 strawberry and 1 banana,” it thinks, imagining each fruit above the printed word. But someone has eaten the pear. The illustration shows a pear with a big bite out of it, the half with the bite printed on a flap that meshes neatly with the intact half on the page beneath. When little ones lift the flap, the culprit is revealed, its body formed in part by the same shape of the fruit. In the case of the pear, it’s a green seal whose rounded head and back look quite pear-shaped. As the book progresses, the cat finds that, one by one, the other pieces of fruit have also been consumed. And, each time, lifting the flap reveals the culprit. In the end, the cat despairingly declares, “My friends ate all my fruit! I’m so hungry!” But no! The other animals reveal their surprise: They’ve made a fruit salad. “For me? Thank you! Please, have some!” The Spanish version, publishing simultaneously, ¿Quién se comió mi fruta? has a bonus; little ones can count back from four as the fruit is consumed. Also publishing simultaneously are Who Ate My Cakes? and ¿Quién se comió mi pastel? which follow the same format. This time, the cat’s cakes are being consumed by a different set of animal friends, and the surprise is a birthday cake. Colorful, simple and stylized graphics against plain backgrounds depict the edibles and animals in question.
Sweet, attractive, and engaging. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-84-18133-10-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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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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