Snuggle in close, and read together; a surefire baby shower hit.
A parent marvels over a beloved little one.
A tiny lamb with fuzzy wool—illustrated with digital textures—gently nuzzles a larger sheep. “Isn’t it amazing?” wonders the narrator. “I can’t believe it’s true… / Of all the children in the world, I had you!” The lamb cavorts happily in a sun-drenched meadow before turning to face readers in an extreme close-up, eyes wide. “You have the sweetest nose and the loveliest of eyes. // Your smile is the best, and your laugh is just right. / You were made for kissing and cuddling tight.” Even in the pouring rain, the narrator can’t find fault: “When you’re feeling down, you’re still my number one.” But amid all the newborn wonder, curiosity abounds. “You are so much more than the sum of all these things, // and I can hardly wait to find out what your future brings.” Outlined in thick, loose, black lines, the parent and child stand out against muted farmland backdrops from sunrise to sunset. Following a classic Dodd pattern, the text rolls gently along in sweet rhymes and, of course, brims with tenderness.
Snuggle in close, and read together; a surefire baby shower hit. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781536247480
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
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 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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