Fans of Baby Loves to Rock will get a kick out of this infant’s moves, but the humor is still too adult to pretend this is a...
A baby and a bevy of animals demonstrate a variety of dance moves.
With one sentence per page, the text is a mix of puns, jokes and rhymes that, while clever, will likely go over the heads of core board-book readers: “The apes like to orang-o-tango / and the sloths like to slow dance. // The kangaroos can boogaloo, / and the flamingo can flamenco.” Each critter mentioned is depicted in bright colors dancing in their requisite style against bold backgrounds. The goofy cartoons are not as successful as those in Kirwan’s earlier offering, Baby Loves to Rock (2013), but the tap-dancing woodpecker and the toucan doing the cancan are delightful standouts. As in the first title, a double-page spread appears at three different junctures, asking a variation of “But who loves to boogie?” in a graphic, bold display type floating in a disco setting. On the last two pages, readers learn that “Baby loves to boogie, woogie, / BOOGIE!” and three images of a Caucasian baby, likely the same child in as the companion title, bop across the page.
Fans of Baby Loves to Rock will get a kick out of this infant’s moves, but the humor is still too adult to pretend this is a book for actual babies. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4814-0383-2
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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
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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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