Children's Books
Fall Board-Book Roundup
‘Farmyard Beat,’ ‘Everyone Eats!’ and More
From “Mine!”
By PAMELA PAUL
EVERYONE EATS!
Written and illustrated by Julia Kuo.
22 pp. Simply Read Books. $9.95. (Board book; ages 0 to 3)
Written and illustrated by Julia Kuo.
22 pp. Simply Read Books. $9.95. (Board book; ages 0 to 3)
Multimedia
Looking very contemporary in an old-time way, the visually striking “Everyone Eats!” feels like the kind of book you’d pick up at an organic children’s clothing store. Simple sentences (“Rabbits eat carrots,” “Bears eat honey,” etc.) are paired with charming painted-on-wood – or digitally drawn to look that way – illustrations. Touches of wit and hints at magic permeate what is otherwise a straightforward guide to healthful eating. A foursome of bright pink pigs forage for red polka-dotted toadstools that look like something out of an enchanted forest. On the opposite page, a plate of mushroom-topped pasta is accompanied by a can of mushroom soup and the simple phrase, “Pigs eat mushrooms.” A horse sniffs at red apples growing from a blue-tinged tree. It’s better than hay.
MINE!
By Shutta Crum.
Illustrated by Patrice Barton.
30 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $6.99. (Board book; ages 1 to 4)
By Shutta Crum.
Illustrated by Patrice Barton.
30 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $6.99. (Board book; ages 1 to 4)
This nearly wordless tale of toddler-baby rivalry is practically built for the board-book format. The only words here are “mine” and “woof” and, along with Patrice Barton’s dynamic and impeccably cute illustrations, they convey all. The story, as described in the Book Review last year, is simple: “Two adults, depicted legs-down from a child’s perspective, deposit a toddler and a baby next to a pile of toys. It’s not clear whether the children are siblings or unwilling playmates. No matter – the conflict rings true either way. And when an equally tenacious dog gets involved, what begins as a battle over treasured playthings turns into a giggly, water-soaked game.” In our review, we called it “a delightful example of the drama and emotion that a nearly wordless book can convey.” There’s not much more to say about it than that.
FARMYARD BEAT
By Lindsey Craig.
Illustrated by Marc Brown.
32 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $6.99. (Board book; ages 1 to 4)
By Lindsey Craig.
Illustrated by Marc Brown.
32 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $6.99. (Board book; ages 1 to 4)
Another hit from last year, well suited to board-book format, though Marc Brown’s collages, with their evocation of ridged cardboard, almost beg to be three-dimensional. “Farmyard Beat” feels like “one of those books that’ve been kicking around preschool classrooms for ages,” we wrote in our review last year. (It is quite possible I’ve had the rhyming text stuck in my head since then.) “From the ‘Peep-peep-peep!’ of a yellow chick peering out of its egg on the first page, through the inevitable chiming-in of an entire farm’s worth of animals, to the book’s conclusion with animals piled up in an exhausted, snoring heap, ‘Farmyard Beat’ jauntily pulls readers along.”
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