Packed with silly, playful animation and perfectly fitting music and narration, this adaptation of Boynton's board book gets the tone and whimsy just right.
In this story of animals gathering for a cow-directed barnyard dance, each action is illustrated with rotating animations, bouncing critters, skittering rodents and other delights. The very easy-to-navigate pages give subtle, nearly transparent prompts to readers showing how to make the animations work. Swinging pigs may require drawing a small circle with a finger, while prancing horses may only require a button tap. The text from the original book still packs a galloping rhythm, and the banjo and violin music makes it bounce even higher. "Stand with the donkey / Slide with the sheep. / Scramble with the little chicks— / CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP!" In addition to the motions of the animals, the violin the cow holds can be played by moving a finger across the strings. Perhaps best of all is narrator John Stey's gruff but musical voice work; his soothing cadences may remind adults of Jeff Bridges.
What at first may seem like an over-the-top adaptation of a simple board book manages to retain the small-scale charms of the original while offering many new ways to enjoy one rollicking hootenanny. (iPad board-book app. 1-5)Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Loud Crow Interactive
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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Little Blue Truck feels, well, blue when he delivers valentine after valentine but receives nary a one.
His bed overflowing with cards, Blue sets out to deliver a yellow card with purple polka dots and a shiny purple heart to Hen, one with a shiny fuchsia heart to Pig, a big, shiny, red heart-shaped card to Horse, and so on. With each delivery there is an exchange of Beeps from Blue and the appropriate animal sounds from his friends, Blue’s Beeps always set in blue and the animal’s vocalization in a color that matches the card it receives. But as Blue heads home, his deliveries complete, his headlight eyes are sad and his front bumper droops ever so slightly. Blue is therefore surprised (but readers may not be) when he pulls into his garage to be greeted by all his friends with a shiny blue valentine just for him. In this, Blue’s seventh outing, it’s not just the sturdy protagonist that seems to be wilting. Schertle’s verse, usually reliable, stumbles more than once; stanzas such as “But Valentine’s Day / didn’t seem much fun / when he didn’t get cards / from anyone” will cause hitches during read-alouds. The illustrations, done by Joseph in the style of original series collaborator Jill McElmurry, are pleasant enough, but his compositions often feel stiff and forced.
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-27244-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wonderful, indeed
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A love song to baby with delightful illustrations to boot.
Sweet but not saccharine and singsong but not forced, Martin’s text is one that will invite rereadings as it affirms parental wishes for children while admirably keeping child readers at its heart. The lines that read “This is the first time / There’s ever been you, / So I wonder what wonderful things / You will do” capture the essence of the picture book and are accompanied by a diverse group of babies and toddlers clad in downright adorable outfits. Other spreads include older kids, too, and pictures expand on the open text to visually interpret the myriad possibilities and hopes for the depicted children. For example, a spread reading “Will you learn how to fly / To find the best view?” shows a bespectacled, school-aged girl on a swing soaring through an empty white background. This is just one spread in which Martin’s fearless embrace of the white of the page serves her well. Throughout the book, she maintains a keen balance of layout choices, and surprising details—zebras on the wallpaper behind a father cradling his child, a rock-’n’-roll band of mice paralleling the children’s own band called “The Missing Teeth”—add visual interest and gentle humor. An ideal title for the baby-shower gift bag and for any nursery bookshelf or lap-sit storytime.
Wonderful, indeed . (Picture book. 1-4)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37671-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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