Sandra BoyntonCritiques

I was very glad that this ended up connecting to Hippos Go Berserk! Very cute book.

Perfect for the 2 year old set.

I have read this book to both of my boys and they each love it. The story is rhythmic and enjoyable to read.

There's only one thing about this book that bothers me...they exercise AFTER they shower and then go to bed! Gross!

ngl, I teared up at the end.

Sandra Boynton, I love you, but the order of nighttime tasks just DON'T MAKE SENSE. I do appreciate the little song that's included in this longer version.

Back of book: "Surely what you need in your life is an overenthusiastic random chicken cheering you on."

And the chicken does some excellent cheering (in rhyme, of course). When the chicken makes a mistake - waking up Bear from a nap - the mouse companion explains that everyone makes mistakes: "That's how we learn. That's what it takes." Chicken has a rest, and Mouse briefly monologues about how others' encouragement is nice, "But I think perhaps the best WOO HOO...is the one you say each day to you."

Warm and funny. See also: Happy Hippo, Angry Duck

Education

Silly book about belly buttons. Mx really liked this one. Ms liked, but not as much.

Silly simple book about a dog's secret dancing life. Mx likes, Ms indifferent.

I've been working on preserving my calm, so I've been looking forward to this long-awaited sequel. Fun!½

I feel like this will be part of a get thee to bed child routine thing, at some point. Great acknowledgement of the variety of pajamas out there, though nothing about people who sleep in the buff.

First sentence: Ba-ddo-bah Doink! Doink!

My thoughts (preview): If a board book is only good if you go to the YouTube channel and watch a video from the author's channel, then is the book really good????????

Premise/plot: Pig-themed entertainment for little ones. This book celebrates all things piggy.

My thoughts: Sandra Boynton has a YouTube channel. Perhaps not all books have accompanying videos. But her most recent ones do seem to [mostly] have videos. If you want the "song" and "celebration" of this board book to shine, you will need to watch the YouTube video. OR else be super-super-super musically inclined and creative yourself. The video has text that the book does not have. It is not a one-for-one correlation. So the video cannot read this book to your little one.

I liked the video well enough. The board book on its own without the video falls a bit flat for me. Though I do like board books and picture books starring pigs. So I should like this one more than I do.

I think it should be made more obvious, more clear, that there is a SONG AND VIDEO on YouTube that goes with the board book. Before hearing the song performed, I was 100% meh. It just was NOT working for me. The idea of having to come up with a tune to sing this one aloud OR doing a very dull spoken read aloud was making me dislike this one. The video is on Sandra Boynton's YT channel.

First sentence: Oh, there is snow, snow, snow. It's coming down, down, down, and it is fall, fall, falling all around, round, round. And you can tell, tell, tell what's on it's way--ee--yay. Yes! it will soon, soon, soon be Christmas Day!

Premise/plot: All the friends have gathered together to sing, sing, sing and welcome in the holiday season.

My thoughts: Don't give me a song without giving me a tune. Yes, this is me overthinking things. Yes, I think about how I would read this aloud. I don't want to 'perform' a song unprepared.

ETA: I read the VERY SMALL PRINT and there is a SONG on YouTube. The song is delightful when you hear the tune. I just think it should be more obvious that you have to go to YouTube to enjoy this board book. Turns out it is DOO-WOP.

First sentence: I really like animals. I like them a lot. Fifteen animals is what I've got. I've got fifteen animals. They're friendly and tame and I've given each one a special name--

Premise/plot: This counting, animal-themed book features a twist. A twist that is revealed as the protagonist reveals the names of his fifteen animals....I won't be spoiling here.

My thoughts: This one was over-the-top-silly. I liked it. Probably more than most of Sandra Boynton's other board books. I don't always love them. (Though I know they are supposedly always awesome.)

Short and sweet, this playful book gets your little one excited to brush their teeth, exercise, bathe and head to bed. Read in a soft voice, The Going to Bed Book invites you to gently rock your kiddo to sleep in the final pages but that doesn't mean they will be asleep. This book will certainly be asked for again and again.

An unshakeable pillar of the bedtime routine.

A book about getting ready for bed

Silly book with a song about snuggling. This was a 2-hit wonder.

Ideal for reading aloud, this classic book encourages youngsters to imitate the sounds made by Boynton's seriously silly signature animals.

Sunbathing dinosaurs and artistic dinosaurs, dancing dinosaurs and volleyball-playing dinosaurs make learning opposites fun!

Dinosaurs EARLY.
Dinosaurs LATER.
Dinosaurs crammed in an elevator.
Dinosaurs PLUMP.
Dinosaurs LEAN.
Dinosaurs RED, BLUE, YELLOW, and GREEN.

Snuggle Puppy is a year-round valentine from parent to child.

OOO, Snuggle Puppy of mine! Everything about you is especially fine. I love what you are. I love what you do. Fuzzy little Snuggle Puppy, I love you.

Featuring a sweet and cuddly doggie cast and rhyming verse, Snuggle Puppy is the perfect bedtime book to read last, because of an ending that kids will want again and again: I started with OOO. . . . Now we'll end like this: [BIG SMOOCH!]

This classic bedtime story is just right for winding down the day as a joyful, silly group of animals scrub scrub scrub in the tub, brush and brush and brush their teeth, and finally rock and rock and rock to sleep.

The day is done.
They say good night,
and somebody
turns off the light.

First sentence: Ladies and Gentlemen.
Can you hear me?
Hello?
I just want to say...
It's THE BUNNY RABBIT SHOW!
Here we go!
We are ten terrific rabbits and we like to dance and sing.
Ten terrific rabbits. We can do most anything.
We're very good at hopping. We're hopping in a row.
We're not so good at stopping. It's the BUNNY RABBIT SHOW!

Premise/plot: It's the BUNNY RABBIT SHOW. And most of it is in song...written in near perfect rhyme with so much rhythm. It's just addictive.

My thoughts: I personally was hearing "We are the Buddy Bears." This tune worked well for about 90% of the book. It wasn't a perfect fit, obviously. But it worked well.

This book was cute, adorable, funny. I think it would make a great silly read aloud for little ones.

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