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ROCK-A-BYE BABY

Name: ROCK-A-BYE BABY
Author: Hazel Quintanilla
ISBN: 978-1-4867-2282-2

From the Hazel Q Nursery Rhymes series

illustrated by Hazel Quintanilla ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 2022

A fun refresh of a childhood standard.

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A playful, sloth-centered interpretation of the classic lullaby.

It’s nighttime, and animals are snuggled up in the treetops with their babies: owls, big cats, snakes, and the stars of the story: sloths. And so the familiar words begin as an adult and baby sloth rock on a tree branch. When the wind “blows,” the “cradle” (the adult sloth’s body) begins to rock until the “bough breaks,” and the two land on the ground—safely—the parent relieved, the baby gleeful. This silly interpretation breathes new life into the centuries-old rhyme. The slow realization that the branch is about to break is apparent on the adult sloth’s face. The heavy-lidded eyes and look of slight concern, followed by the shock of understanding, clue readers in to the inevitable impending fall. The cartoonlike illustration depicting the fall shows the snap and drop, with just a single sloth arm clinging to a tree branch visible at the bottom of the page. It’s sure to elicit a smile from knowing adult readers. It’s not often that something old is redone so convincingly and simply, but this one hits the mark. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A fun refresh of a childhood standard. (Board book. 0-2)

Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-4867-2282-2

Page Count: 14

Publisher: Flowerpot Press

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S POETRY

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ALPHABEASTS
by Hazel Quintanilla ; illustrated by Hazel Quintanilla

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IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT
illustrated by Hazel Quintanilla

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WALTER THE WHALE SHARK AND HIS TEENY TINY TEETH
by Katrine Crow ; illustrated by Hazel Quintanilla

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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I LOVE YOU LIKE NO OTTER

by Rose Rossner ; illustrated by Sydney Hanson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 2020

The greeting-card art and jokey rhymes work for the baby-shower market but not for the youngest readers.

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Animal parents declare their love for their offspring through rhymed puns and sentimental art.

The title sets the scene for what’s to come: The owl asks the owlet as they fly together, “WHOO loves you?”; the kangaroo and joey make each other “very HOPPY”; and the lioness and cub are a “PURRRFECT pair.” Most of the puns are both unimaginative and groanworthy, and they are likely to go over the heads of toddlers, who are not know for their wordplay abilities. The text is set in abcb quatrains split over two double-page spreads. On each spread, one couplet appears on the verso within a lightly decorated border on pastel pages. On the recto, a full-bleed portrait of the animal and baby appears in softly colored and cozy images. Hearts are prominent on every page, floating between the parent and baby as if it is necessary to show the love between each pair. Although these critters are depicted in mistily conceived natural habitats and are unclothed, they are human stand-ins through and through.

The greeting-card art and jokey rhymes work for the baby-shower market but not for the youngest readers. (Board book. 6 mos-2)