A good-enough choice for parents and teachers to use to get the youngest goblins excited about many adults’ favorite holiday...
Laden puts a Halloween spin on her successful wordplay board books, Peek-a-Who? (2000) and Peek-a-Zoo! (2014).
Following the same pattern as in the previous titles, a die-cut opening reveals part of a picture and a few visual clues so that toddlers can guess what the page turn might uncover. As with Peek-a-Zoo!, there are only so many words that rhyme with “boo.” Some of the choices this time around are quite a stretch, especially for the board-book set. “Brew,” “flew,” and “crew” are not exactly standard toddler language, so adult readers will need to be ready to help tots negotiate it. The picture of a pumpkin labelled “peek-a-goo” makes sense only for children older than this book’s audience, who know what will happen to the jack-o’-lantern when the festivities are over. Illustrations in Laden's signature gouache style with all the expected Halloween icons—fall leaves, skeletons, spiders, mice—provide a mild “eww” factor. The final page turn is no surprise—a Mylar mirror set where a ghost’s face might be. The concluding question—“Who are you?”—alludes to the tradition of costumes and trick-or-treat and could be helpful in familiarizing the youngest readers with it.
A good-enough choice for parents and teachers to use to get the youngest goblins excited about many adults’ favorite holiday while introducing sophisticated, though still one-syllable, vocabulary. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3396-6
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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Exactly what readers want and expect from the board-book master.
Pookie and family celebrate Thanksgiving.
Boynton’s precocious little pig is back in this holiday installment. The family gets ready for Thanksgiving by baking pies, welcoming Nemmy and Boppa for dinner, and sharing gratitude (and pie!). Boynton’s familiar rhyming text and simple, thick-lined illustrations are exactly what readers have come to expect from this series: Pookie is a little silly, the story bounces along, and the artwork is warm and cozy. Though most of the action takes place inside, the passage of day is clear through the window, from daylight to the setting sun. Decorations and a tree with just a few leaves on it indicate the autumnal season. There are two pages where numbers are called out, presented differently from the rest of the typeface (Pookie and their parents prepare apple pie and one pumpkin pie, and there will be five guests at dinner). The only bolded digits are one and five, even though the text does mention that there will be a total of two pies—a stylistic choice that seems to point readers to counting practice but that feels a bit random. Overall, though, this is a worthy new story about one of Boynton’s most beloved characters. True to form, it’s a toddler-friendly read, providing context for the festivities and a sweet representation of gratitude. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Exactly what readers want and expect from the board-book master. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66592-263-0
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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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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