A sturdy little book of easy-to-solve Halloween riddles in rhyme.
Each page features a riddle in four rhyming lines, with the answer appearing on the back of the page. The rhymes, while uninspired and awkward, present riddles that are easily solvable by preschoolers, and the answers cover standard Halloween ground: Witches, ghosts, scarecrows, the moon, candy, costumes, cats, pumpkins, and trick or treat all make an appearance. Each riddle is printed on a white rectangle positioned directly on top of an illustration, presumably so that the answer to the riddle is not revealed until the page is turned, but the design serves only to annoy readers (who are likely to mistake the rectangles for flaps and futilely try to grab them and move them out of the way). The illustrations are serviceable. A companion title, Little Dance (978-1-58536-884-6), follows the exact format. However, its riddles are tougher, and while Little Halloween is gender-neutral, this one is clearly being marketed toward girls as it is drenched in pink and features girl dancers only.
Skip this one and check out Steven Kroll’s The Biggest Pumpkin Surprise Ever!, illustrated by Jeni Bassett (2012), for a gentle introduction to Halloween for little ones. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58536-885-3
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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A hefty board book filled with ruminations on the nature of love.
While love is the topic of this board book, it’s the inventive gatefolds and charmingly vintage illustrations that readers will fall for. Brimming with sweeping declarations along the lines of “Love is / strong. // You have my back and I’ll always have yours,” the text sounds like a series of greeting cards strung together. It’s benign enough, but are most toddlers interested in generic proclamations about love? Some statements, like the ones on “unsinkable” hippos or a panda parent holding a cub “steady,” could introduce new vocabulary. At least there’s plenty of winsome critters to fawn over as the surprisingly sturdy flaps tell dramatic little ministories for each cartoon-style animal species. A downcast baby giraffe looks longingly up at a too-high tasty branch; lift a flap to bring an adult giraffe—and the delicacy—down to the baby, or watch an adventurous young fox retreat into a fold-down–flap burrow to learn that “my heart will always be home with you.” At points, the pages are tricky to turn in the correct order, but clever touches, like a series of folds that slow readers down to a sloth’s speed, make up for it. The book concludes with a gatefold revealing a vibrant playground populated with racially and ethnically diverse humans; two are wheelchair users.
Fun format; bland text. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3153-2
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.
Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.
For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58925-611-8
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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