This appealing under-the-sea number book will hook toddlers and their parents.
Practice counting to 10 with a variety of friendly fishies.
Cousins employees her usual palette of rich, bold colors, with fuchsia, scarlet, tangerine, and turquoise fish popping against beachy blue backgrounds. Her gouache paintings are thickly bordered in a rough black line that matches the dark hand-lettered text. A decorated number sits prominently on the left page, and the equivalent amount of fish swim on the right. The spreads are further connected by corresponding patterns, such as an orange-and-gold crisscrossed “4” to match four goldfish on the opposing page or a speckled rainbow “9” that mimics the “Nine funny fish.” Transparent spot gloss over the numbers and sea creatures adds to both the aquatic feel and the overall cheery vibe. With visually distinct species for each number, from spiky lionfish to smiling sharks, counting the sets is generally easy, although “Eight shy fish” are difficult to identify amid the seaweed. Short, peppy rhymes brimming with alliteration (“Five fat fish. / Splish splosh, splash!”) keep things appropriately bubbly, and while the ending (“Hooray! How many fish have you found?” with a variety of fish floating about) isn’t especially inspired, it does the job. A sparkly fish on the cover is superfluous but will likely tempt readers familiar with Rainbow Fish.
This appealing under-the-sea number book will hook toddlers and their parents. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0024-9
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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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
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