Tweet Hearts

December 10, 2012
Two butter-colored birds with curvy shapes that mimic commas tweet their love for one another in this board book that counts down from 10 to one. In Reagan’s sleek, perky graphics, the hearts transform into hot-air balloons and kites (“Six light hearts/ float up to the sky./ Five playful hearts/ ride on by”), appear along a line of musical notation, and slide down a teeter totter on skinny legs (“Seven silly hearts, love to play”). A single heart-shaped pop-up concludes this affectionate, understated ode. Up to age 4.

December 15, 2012
A heart-laden counting board book with art that's better suited to the Valentine greeting-card market. In rhyming couplets of a single line per page, Reagan invites youngsters to count various hearts in several different scenes dramatized by two canary yellow birds. Starting at 10, one of the birds attracts 10 hearts with a magnet, then the twosome releases nine hearts from a bird cage, and next one bird blows eight soap bubbles in the air. The countdown continues to the number one, with the reveal of the book's sole pop-up: one heart emblazoned with the words "I love you." While the cartoon birds have a Tweety Bird-like cuteness, and the highly saturated color palette of yellow, pink and red is attractive, the scenes will go over most little ones' heads. Babies and toddlers still learning the basics of our world won't get the visual metaphors. With so many board books expressing the sentiment of love in a more developmentally appropriate manner, skip this one. (Board book. 2-4)

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