Joyce Wan

A rhyming alphabet book with a food from around the world for each letter of the alphabet, from apple pie to zeppole! The final page spread includes each treat, with its pronunciation and description; the foods are both sweet (nougat) and savory (spring roll), but mostly include desserts or appetizer-y items like gyoza and knish.

Delish!

Me: "What would you do if you saw a whale in your swimming pool?"
Storytime Kiddo: "I would kill it. My dad wants fresh meat."
Me: ...

Maybe don't be like me. Don't ask that question if any of your kiddos are from hunting families. Otherwise it's a hit!

I am personally not much of a fan of the cute, but....who can resist Joyce Wan? This is one of her newer board books, which I wrested from the hands of adoring moms and babies so I could review it.

I'm just going to tell you upfront: The cover has glitter on it. Live with it. It won't last forever. Each spread has a little rhyme on the left giving clues and a cute and cuddly animal on the right playing peek-a-boo. Lift the flap and see the animal. "I am a cool bird./I waddle and slide./In the show more ice-cold sea,/I swim and glide." The rhymes aren't earth-shattering and won't present a challenge to older children, but that's not the intended audience. This is a cute and comforting book, perfect to cuddle up with a baby or toddler and enjoy a good game of peek-a-boo.

Wan's illustrations are super cute with lots of rounded colors, thick lines and simple shapes. The flaps are attached at the bottom and rounded at the top (they open down) and you can easily reinforce them with a little library tape to extend the life of the book.

Verdict: Everybody needs a little cute and peek-a-boo is never out of style. Buy it.

ISBN: 9780545750424; Published 2015 by Cartwheel/Scholastic; Purchased for the library. show less

One sunny day, a little boy heads outside for a swim, but his pool is already taken . . . There's a big whale in the water and it's not budging! The boy tries everything to get the whale to leave. Nothing seems to work. Not fetch. Not tag. Not even offering his allowance. What's a boy to do? Luckily, he comes up with the perfect solution: he decides to chill out on a spray of water over the whale's spout.
This colorful whale of a tale from the talented Joyce Wan is sure to inspire giggles show more from little guppies! show less