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FUNNY FACE, SUNNY FACE

A simple, lively rhyme describing a toddler's day, with warm, joyful images that tykes and their caregivers will happily...

What are we going to do today?

“Bunny face, sunny face, wake up… / with a funny face!” Brief, catchy rhymes feature basic body parts (hair, hands, noses and feet, to name a few) with a touch of whimsy. They team nicely with bright, cheerful images centered on children and their animal friends to describe some of the ins and outs of being a toddler in this light stroll through a typical day, from morning to night. Toddlers will bounce along to the rhythm and giggle at the onomatopoeic wordplay as the friendly, multiethnic youngsters that populate the pictures nicely illustrate the text with warmth and energy. The vocabulary is on target, and it’s easy to imagine children joining in with the warm, songlike wording. The pattern established by the page turns will encourage participation and guessing at the rhymes. A nice choice for those learning how to name the parts of the body, an enjoyable read and, of course, a proper goodnight book: “Nosy heads, cozy heads, all tired out… / and dozy heads.”

A simple, lively rhyme describing a toddler's day, with warm, joyful images that tykes and their caregivers will happily embrace. (Picture book. 1-3)

Pub Date: March 24, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-7636-7606-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Nosy Crow

Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015

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SPOOKY POOKIE

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

Categories:
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EEK! HALLOWEEN!

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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