Review by Kirkus Book Review
A book of rhyming fun for young vocabulary sophisticates.Just from the quirky title and illustrationa winged alarm clockon the cover, readers get a hint of the delightful rhymes to be found inside. Bold, colorful graphics, emphasized by the liberal use of black and framed with plenty of white, present an object on the right-hand page while the text on the left identifies it. The objects are mainly run-of-the-mill: "Alarm Clock," "Fresh Orange Juice," "Fingernails," "Fluffy Bath Towel." The fun starts when readers unfold the gatefold pages beneath the illustrations to discover the object transformed by a very clever rhyming counterpart. "Fresh Orange Juice" becomes "Fresh Orange Goose" (the goose pokes its head out from a glass of orange liquid), and "Fluffy Bath Towel" becomes "Fluffy Bath Owl" (a cross-looking blue owl hangs from a towel rod). Once children have caught on to the rhyming nonsense, the gatefold design will give them time to come up with their own rhymes before revealing the one in the book. Children will squirm in delight when "Cheese on Toast" becomes "Sneeze on Toast" or "Fingernails" become "Fingersnails," and what child will not salivate at the thought of a "Spoon of Marmalade" becoming "Moon and Starmalade"? The different glimpses of a humana face, a hand, feetin the illustrations are of a white person.Wedding elegant design with witty and funny rhymes and challenging children to play with words make this book a winner. (Board book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
