Mail Duck delivers delight, and toddlers will clamor for more.
From a mail truck, a friendly, overalls-wearing white duck delivers variously shaped parcels—triangle, circle, square, oval, rectangle, and heart—to a corresponding critter who happens to be a lover of said geometric figure.
Each shape-and-animal pairing is allotted a double-page spread on which Mail Duck delivers the package to a grateful recipient. Pink owl Omar, for example, lives in a hollow tree trunk with an oval opening, and readers can peek behind flaps to view all the ovals in the owl’s house. Mail Duck hands over an oval-shaped package to the owl that readers can view the contents of behind a flap, which reveals it to be an oval-shaped balloon. This pattern is repeated with Scout the beaver, Cecil the snail, Trudy the mouse, Rosie the snake, and Harry the cat. The simple text declares the preferred shape of each animal, and Mail Duck ponders what could be inside each package via thought bubble. The final spread features gatefold flaps that open up the post-office exterior to reveal those friends with the contents of their packages, which happen to be party supplies in honor of Mail Duck. Sirotich’s art steals the show, with smiling faces and hidden shapes throughout in gentle greens, cotton-candy pinks, and highly saturated blues. While the 16 shaped flaps are easy for little fingers to lift, they won’t withstand robust play.
Mail Duck delivers delight, and toddlers will clamor for more. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3989-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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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The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer...
Seven years after Little Pookie (2011) first appeared, this popular piglet is finally celebrating Christmas.
“Oh Pookie! Come look! It’s beginning to snow,” says a maternal-looking pig. But where did Pookie go? Past the Christmas tree, to put on a snowsuit of course. Pookie’s ever cheerful mama is willing to go out too. After all, “It’s a magical time to be walking with you.” When she observes, “Our noses are frozen. It’s time to go in,” Pookie protests in typical toddler style: “But I’m not c-c-c-cold!” The next three pages highlight indoor holiday preparations—making paper garlands, baking and decorating cookies. The rhyming text mirrors the spare illustrations. A spidery type that emulates handwriting makes it clear when Pookie is speaking. Then “the doorbell is ringing. / Our family and friends have arrived for the singing.” The second-to-last spread shows Pookie, mama, and six other pigs—and Boynton’s requisite chicken—singing (“Con brio”), “MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! MER-RY CHRIST-MAS! AND A HAP-PY NEW YEAR!” Conveniently, this text is placed beneath the musical notation. Finally Pookie hangs a stocking and goes off to bed without any fuss, anticipating presents on Christmas morning.
The small size, a predictable winter adventure, and Boynton’s very toddlerlike character make this a fine stocking stuffer or an ideal Christmas Eve read to share with other little piggies. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3724-1
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
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