  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 03/01/2011 PreS—A family shops for groceries and then takes a ride to the country for a picnic. "Baby takes a ride/through the busy, dizzy city,/waves at a yellow bird/singing so pretty./Baby, what do birds say?/Baby says 'Moo!'" As they pass different animals, the parents ask their baby, who clutches a toy cow, what each creature says, and Baby always answers "Moo!" Finally, after the child has fallen asleep, they see a cow: "Wake up Baby! Here's a cow for you!/ Baby, what do cows say?/Baby says 'Moo!'" The rhyming text reads smoothly, and the acrylic illustrations are childlike and cheerful, making the book exactly right for toddlers. Each time a new animal is seen, the parents reiterate the names of the previous creatures and their sounds, inviting participation. The text, set in a blue font resembling a child's handwriting, emphasizes the animal sounds in red. A winner for the youngest listeners.—Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 03/01/2011 Everything about this picture book—concept, story, appealing art—is pretty much perfect for the two-and-under set. In the grocery store, the customers wave and call hello to Baby, but when Mom and Dad ask what people say, Baby replies, “Moo!” That sets the stage for a series of amusing episodes in which Baby answers “moo” to the question of what the other creatures they meet say: the pretty yellow bird, the horse, the dog, the cat. But once the family gets to the country and a cow appears, Baby can’t give her signature “moo” because she’s fast asleep. The cumulative text is written in nicely scanning (and delightful!) rhyme that toddlers will enjoy. Fruit-juice colors and people and animals drawn in the rounded shapes of stuffed toys dominate the spreads, except in the sidebars of accumulating tweets and meows. Kids who are just a bit older might spy the reason that Baby says nothing but “moo,” making this a fun outing for the whole family. - Copyright 2011 Booklist. Bulletin for the Center... - 04/01/2011 The baby featuring in this rhyming story is a bit of a universalist-no matter what the critter in question, person or cat or horse, Baby insists it says “Moo.” The family, doing errands in the city and then taking a spin in the country, keeps pointing Baby at various animals only to hear the same bovine answer. Finally they do encounter a cow, but by then a “tuckered-out Baby/ is fast asleep”; understandably keen on some closure, the parents wake Baby up to finally put that “moo” in its rightful place. The poetry is too often padded to make the scansion work, and the text is overly long for the animal-noise set. However, the short-coupled lines have the bouncy rhythm of jump-rope chants, and the accumulating reiteration of what people, birds, cats, etc. really do say partners neatly with the repeated, sweetly defiant punchline of “Moo!” Walker’s art has the springy feel and dot-eyed, cheerfully informal figures of Hiroe Nakata, but his acrylic paints are slightly more textured and saturated. Amusing details include a clear animal allegiance in the form of a spotted toy cow tightly clutched in Baby’s tiny hands; the text is also helpfully illuminated with thumbnail versions of the various critters as it enumerates the animal sounds Baby won’t make. Feiffer’s Bark, George (BCCB 11/99) is still the pithy pinnacle of this concept, but kids (and adults) who are starting to find the “What does this animal say?” game a little worn may relish this cozy revision. DS - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
 |