Slight? Right. But fun? A ton! (Board book. 6 mos.-3)
Even the most studious kids know that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
This visually arresting, rhymed board book may be a quick read, but it says a lot with few words: roughly one word per page, in fact. Caregivers will recognize the setup immediately—a day in the life of the eponymous Teacher, a bespectacled kid in a lab coat with fuchsia, Einstein-esque hair, poring over formulae and experiments, and the Creature, a playful, green colossus that looks like a friendly version of Frankenstein’s monster. The stylized, colorful illustrations propel the story, told in rhymed couplets presented over a series of two-page vignettes. “Book,” reads a drawing of the Teacher, head buried in a tome. “Look!” yells the Creature, while showing off their juggling skills. Unfortunately, their efforts go unnoticed. Similarly, when the Creature invites the Teacher to go fly a “kite,” it never breaks the latter’s concentration; the Teacher continues feverishly to “write.” When the ever hopeful Creature suggests, “Dance,” though, the Teacher gives a glance and finally decides a recreation break is in order. Four scenes of silliness and play follow, at the end of which the Creature must “rest” while the Teacher picks up the book again. The rhyming text is a great way to get kids experimenting with sounds, and the playful, cool artwork suits the themes perfectly.
Slight? Right. But fun? A ton! (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3155-6
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts.
What terrors lurk within your mouth? Jasper Rabbit knows.
“You have stumbled your way into the unknown.” The young bunny introduced in Reynolds and Brown’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, Creepy Carrots (2012), takes up Rod Serling’s mantle, and the fit is perfect. Mimicking an episode of The Twilight Zone, the book follows Charlie Marmot, an average kid with a penchant for the strange and unusual. He’s pleased when his tonsils become infected; maybe once they’re out he can take them to school for show and tell! That’s when bizarre things start to happen: Noises in the night. Slimy trails on his bedroom floor. And when Charlie goes in for his surgery, he’s told that the tonsils have disappeared from his throat; clearly something sinister is afoot. Those not yet ready for Goosebumps levels of horror will find this a welcome starter pack. Reynolds has perfected the tension he employed in his Creepy Tales! series, and partner in crime Brown imbues each illustration with both humor and a delicate undercurrent of dark foreshadowing. While the fleshy pink tonsils—the sole spot of color in this black-and-white world—aren’t outrageously gross, there’s something distinctly disgusting about them. And though the book stars cute, furry woodland creatures, the spooky surprise ending is 100% otherworldly—a marvelous moment of twisted logic.
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts. (Early chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781665961080
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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