A simple, satisfying, reassuring tale of little Fred’s transition from crib to “big boy’s bed.” Singer’s (A Pair of Wings, p. 422, etc.) skill with this age group is apparent as the mother offers her son rhyming options to the crib: “Would you like to rest, in an eagle’s nest, way up high near the sky?” and he replies, “Too high.” The fantasy continues with the refrain “I need another kind of bed.” Adinolfi (The Birthday Letters, 2000, etc.) generously renders colored mixed-media paintings, with turquoise blues and soft lavenders, cherry reds, and lime greens on textured paper, some framed by spongy color and others spreading over the very edges of the page. Each painting displays just the right amount of fantasy and security. Fred tries snuggling down a rabbit hole, a “snooze in the fishy ooze,” “a nap in a monkey’s lap,” among other whimsical places, until his mama provides him with “a big, soft mattress, bright red spread, some fluffy pillows for your head.” Just right. (Harper Growing Tree series) (Picture book. 2-4)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-694-01451-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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This bedtime book offers simple rhymes, celebrates the numbers one through 10, and encourages the counting of objects.
Each double-page spread shows a different toddler-and-caregiver pair, with careful attention to different skin tones, hair types, genders, and eye shapes. The pastel palette and soft, rounded contours of people and things add to the sleepy litany of the poems, beginning with “Goodnight, one fork. / Goodnight, one spoon. / Goodnight, one bowl. / I’ll see you soon.” With each number comes a different part in a toddler’s evening routine, including dinner, putting away toys, bathtime, and a bedtime story. The white backgrounds of the pages help to emphasize the bold representations of the numbers in both written and numerical forms. Each spread gives multiple opportunities to practice counting to its particular number; for example, the page for “four” includes four bottles of shampoo and four inlaid dots on a stool—beyond the four objects mentioned in the accompanying rhyme. Each home’s décor, and the array and types of toys and accoutrements within, shows a decidedly upscale, Western milieu. This seems compatible with the patronizing author’s note to adults, which accuses “the media” of indoctrinating children with fear of math “in our country.” Regardless, this sweet treatment of numbers and counting may be good prophylaxis against math phobia.
The joys of counting combine with pretty art and homage to Goodnight Moon. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93378-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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In this entry in the Growing Tree series, the publisher copyrights the text, while Carpenter provides illustrations for the story; here, the three billy goats named Gruff play on a nasty troll’s greed to get where the grass is greenest. Logic has never been the long suit of this tale: Instead of letting the two smaller billy goats be terrorized by the mean and ugly troll, children wonder, why doesn’t the biggest billy goat step in sooner? It’s still a good introduction to comparatives, and the repetitiveness of the story invites participation. The artwork matches the story: The characters are suitably menacing, quivering, or stalwart, and the perspectives allow readers to be right there in the thick of the action. (Picture book. 2-4)
Pub Date: June 30, 1998
ISBN: 0-694-01033-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HarperFestival
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1998
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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