A playful, child-friendly introduction to a well-known work of art.
A baby hippo, based on the ancient Egyptian figurine from the Louvre Museum, plays hide-and-seek with a butterfly in this French import.
The titular calf, with bright blue skin and darker blue markings painted on its body, counts to three to find a spot to hide. Subsequent spreads find the hippo, chameleonlike, adopting the color and texture of yellow sand, red bricks, and green grass. When his mommy, a larger hippo with similar markings, calls him for a bath, the butterfly finds him. Now the butterfly, which is also bright blue, hides in plain sight against the baby hippo’s markings. Simultaneously publishing in the First Steps in Art series, Antoinette the Tree Frog, also by Elschner but illustrated by Xavière Devos, depicts a frog wearing an old-fashioned bathing costume in artist Claude Monet’s lily pond. A gust of wind carries off Mr. Claude’s straw hat, which Antoinette finds and takes a nap in. The droll narratives are simply told, and the illustrations loosely and effectively evoke the art style each uses as an inspiration. The backmatter of both books describes a bit about the artistic influences and where museum visitors can see the originals. On the back of each book, a reproduction of the original artwork appears.
A playful, child-friendly introduction to a well-known work of art. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7643-6111-1
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Schiffer
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
