Big Kid Bed

January 1, 2019
In Patricelli's (Quiet Loud and many others) latest board books starring the single-curlicued, gender-unspecified toddler, the little tyke grows a tooth (Tooth) and graduates from crib to big-kid bed (Bed). Each experience offers challenges (i.e., excessive drooling and fear of being alone, respectively), but the rewards of both are clear. Patricelli's recognizable and cheery acrylics with thick black outlines ramp up the reassurance levels.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2018
Tooth by Leslie Patricelli; illus. by the author Preschool Candlewick 32 pp. g 9/18 978-0-7636-7933-0 $7.99 In Patricelli's (Quiet Loud and many others) latest board books starring the single-curlicued, gender-unspecified toddler, the little tyke grows a tooth (Tooth) and graduates from crib to big-kid bed (Bed). Each experience offers challenges (i.e., excessive drooling and fear of being alone, respectively), but the rewards of both are clear. In Tooth: Now I can bite. Crunch. And chew. Chomp chomp. In Bed: It's so soft?Comfy! Tooth offers some simple instructions about oral hygiene and what not to do with one's teeth (don't bite your friends), along with appended More Good Things to Bite and More Bad Things to Bite. Bed follows the narrative structure of some of Patricelli's previous milestone books (Hair; Potty, rev. 1/11): I'm excited about trying this new big-kid thing, but I'm also worried. Should I just revert back to what I'm comfortable with? The answer is a firm but gentle no, which here the toddler realizes with a minimum of fuss. Patricelli's recognizable and cheery color-saturated, textured acrylics with thick black outlines ramp up the reassurance levels. elissa Gershowitz

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)