Board books can be wonderful -- perfectly pitched for babies and toddlers, or an indestructible way to deliver a story with wider appeal. They can, on the other hand, be simply a new format for a story that is beyond the true picture book audience (which doesn't work well) or be a scaled-down version of characters and stories familiar to older kids, which is also of dubious success.
They can be useful but dull, as some vocabulary books are, or can be a great way to present a song or nursery rhyme so that parents can read or sing aloud with babies. In short, they are a hit-or-miss proposition. These two new ones, though, are fairy-certified hits, and great additions to the library of a wee one of your acquaintance.
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Trucks Go, by Steve Light
This book is an unusual format, wide and short, to accommodate the trucks it features in bold, loose watercolours that reminds me a little of Chris Raschka’s work, though more tamed. Some of the typical trucks are shown here, along with some more task-specific vehicles that you don’t see too often (the auto carrier and horse trailer, for example!), making it a nice departure from the many truck books out there.
What sets it even further apart is the text. Each truck is accompanied by terrific textual versions of the noises associated with it, perfect for reading aloud. This is not a book for the quiet, and demands a bit of hamming, but it is practically guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser among truck-lovers or wee rowdies. I’m so going to buy this for my little guy.
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Picture book series that spin off shortened-down board books, I find, often have the feel of a knock-off. There isn’t the room for the humour of the original, they are aiming for a lower audience, and it can feel like they are just abridging the same material.
I love the Duck & Goose books, so I was pleased to find I didn’t get that feel from this one, perhaps because the originals already left a lot to be said by the illustrations, so the shorter format is easier to work with. The material is new, too, and the included emotions portrayed in situations that kids can relate to, like a tower of sticks that falls (frustrated). Again, many of the expected feelings are there, as well as a few that are not in every other book, including “patient,” “hopeful,” and “loving.” And me? I’m feeling loving, too. I'm loving this cute little book.
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A career Children’s Librarian, the Book Fairy (a.k.a. kittenpie) has worked in library systems in both New York and Toronto. She’s thrilled to have another place to share the books she loves without creeping people out the way she does at the bookstore.
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