125-126. Two board books

125. You're The Pumpkin In My Pie (Board book). Laura Gehl. Illustrated by Vanessa Port. 2024. 20 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars] 

First sentence: You're the sunny in my sunrise
You're the honey in my tea
You're the sugar on my donut
You're the leaf, and I'm the tree

Premise/plot: This is a fall-themed board book for parents to share with little ones. What you see is essentially what you get. Cutesy pictures packed with sentiment.

My thoughts: I definitely liked this one. I did not like the lack of punctuation. Not a single period in the book. And that's not because the author went with exclamation marks instead. (Which definitely could have been the vibe, a little over the top, but potentially workable.) I do love fall. I especially love pumpkins. I think my favorite line might be, "I'm the ghost and you're my boo."

 126. Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks Touch and Trace (board book). Richard Scarry. 2024. 14 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars]

First sentence: My! Isn't Busytown a busy, busy place? Just look at all those cars and trucks! The  Pig family is going to the beach to have a picnic. Can you help them find their way there? Please hurry up, Ma Pig!

Premise/plot: What you see is what you get. That's not a bad thing. A busily illustrated book that asks little ones to 'touch and trace' their way through various mazes. Each maze covers a two-page spread. 

My thoughts: I grew up reading Richard Scarry's books. I will never not like a Richard Scarry book. This one is in a board book format. The details are very, very, very small. Then again the target audience is very small, so probably not much of an issue. But Richard Scarry books used to be OVERSIZED in a delightful way. It was easier to spot the many, many details--the little things, the side quests if you will. I do like that there is more than one way to solve each maze.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers