This Little Hamster

October 7, 2013
Reich moves from counting to colors in this follow-up to Hamsters Holding Hands. Set against pale backdrops that correspond to 10 colors, the smiley, dumplinglike hamsters proudly display objects in their favorite hues (“These little hamsters love everything red/ They have a hat, a cherry and a spool of thread”). Once again, the hamsters’ abundant enthusiasm and Reich’s humorous penchant for unexpected props (the green-obsessed hamster has “a prize-winning pepper and a bubble machine”) are a winning combination. Up to age 3.

In this follow-up to Hamsters Holding Hands (2012), a horde of hamsters introduces little ones to colors. On the left-hand page, one, two or three hamsters express a penchant for a specific hue; they possess an odd collection of objects, everything from a bubble machine to a tire swing, in said color. On the right-hand page, the hamsters cavort among their things. Clunky verse describes the action and incorporates each color's name; this word is printed in large, quirky bubble letters as if it were colored in by hand. Some of the objects depicted seem to have been chosen because they fit the rhyme scheme: "These little hamsters collect everything purple / They have a hoop, a wig and a dino named Durple." As with their first outing, the critters are endearingly drawn cartoons with thick lines and goofy expressions. Design hampers the book's effectiveness: The background color of the art, a lighter shade of the featured hue, prevents the colorful objects from standing out on the page, particularly on the "black" page, where the blackberries are almost invisible against the black background. The shade used on the "blue" page is a little too aqua and may confuse babies and toddlers learning to distinguish between blue and green. While there are some cute hamster antics going on here, it is an ineffective color concept book for the youngest readers. (Board book. 1-3) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.