Diverse babies clad in animal costumes enjoy learning the alphabet and playing in the outdoors.
This rhyming book with babies dressed as animals is both cute and familiar. In alphabetical order according to the costumes they wear, each baby engages in an activity. “Giraffe baby likes skipping rocks. / Hippo baby likes building with blocks.” The illustrations are sweetly rendered in a mix of line drawing and watercolor in an array of muted colors. Many of the babies interact as the couplets play out, as when the jaguar baby persuades the iguana baby to remain with the group despite the disappointment of a fallen ice cream cone. The full cast of characters can be seen popping in and out in backgrounds, which will prompt children to flip back and forth as the text identifies previously seen babies. This will make for a very engaging and thoughtful storytime read-aloud even if all of the animals aren’t necessarily recognizable to lap-sitters and little learners. The Ulysses butterfly baby and X-ray tetra baby are likely to be new to young readers, for instance, and their concept-forced specificity contrasts with the generic identification of most other babies, such as the dog, turtle, and whale babies. Significantly, the monkey baby is depicted with light skin and sits in a boat with a dark-skinned narwhal baby.
Fans of Anne Geddes’ work in particular will be drawn to this delightful picture book. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-239447-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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SEEN & HEARD
Little ones can explore a day in the life of a rubber-covered, audio-enabled tractor.
The “5 noisy parts!” promised on the cover are powered by a battery embedded in the back of the book, the compartment securely screwed shut. Youngsters are prompted by the text to press various parts of the tractor to make interesting sound effects, such as an engine starting then chugging, a horn, and tire noise on muddy or rocky terrain. A large, tractor-shaped die-cut hole in every page allows children to access the vehicle on every double-page spread but leaves the left-hand pages dominated by that tractor-shaped hole. Farm animals make their signature sounds via speech bubble (horses, chicks, and cows, to name a few) along with other critters offering suggestions about which buttons on the tractor to press. For additional play value, a ladybug and a caterpillar can be spotted on every double-page spread. Labels for most of the animals appear in a clear font along with other farm-centric vocabulary words: pitchfork, seedlings, trough. Elliott’s art is busy, but the simple, eye-catching patterns and graphically clean lines in bright colors will appeal to the audience. While this offering is perfect for toddlers, the extensive warnings in the fine print on the back of the book about what may happen if the button battery is swallowed should scare adults into being vigilant. Thankfully, there is an on/off switch allowing for toggling between a quiet and noisy reading experience.
Grown-ups be warned: Young fingers will delight in pressing the tractor’s buttons (and yours!) over and over. (Novelty board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68010-669-5
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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