Quiet as a Mouse: And Other Animal Idioms

by Chiêu Anh Urban

Overview

Are you hungry as a bear? Sly as a fox? Stubborn as a mule? Introducing ANIMAL IDIOMS!
This entertaining die-cut board book, featuring colorful, adorable art, introduces children to some fun animal idioms. Like a guessing game, each image shows just a part of the creature, with an accompanying rhyme that hints at its identity. Kids turn the page . . . and see which friendly animal fits the bill. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454925057
Publisher:	Sterling Children's Books
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Pages:	22
Sales rank:	1,061,689
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 7.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	1 - 3 Years

About the Author

Chiêu Anh Urban is a children's book author/illustrator and graphic designer with a BFA in Communications Art and Design. Visit her website at chieuurban.com and facebook.com/chieu.anh.urban. She lives in MD.

Editorial Reviews

11/13/2017
Urban uses similes to highlight five animals. Each creature initially stares out at readers in a black-and-white close-up, accompanied by a rhyme: “Quick and cheeky,/ smart and sneaky, I’m sly as a...” A page turn reveals the answer (in this case, a fox), along with a bold geometric portrait of the animal in blazing color. Small die-cuts offer pops of color, a hint of what’s to come.” It’s a visually dramatic and playful exploration of animals and language—especially the final scene featuring a very happy clam with mirrored sunglasses. Ages 1–3. Agent: Jamie Weiss Chilton, Andrea Brown Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

01/01/2018
Toddler-PreS—Urban explores animal-related idioms through a fun guessing game that pairs bouncy rhymes with close-ups of different faces. A whiskered, sharp-faced creature describes itself as "Quick and cheeky, smart and sneaky. I'm as sly as a…." A page turn reveals the answer: a fox. Vibrant images fill each page, accompanied by large text. Strategically placed die-cut holes and flashy, fun details (a red bandana for the ox, a pair of sunglasses for the bat) add to the charm.—Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

2017-12-11
Little readers learn some animal idioms.Caregivers know the phrases "sly as a fox" and "blind as a bat," and this board book tries its best to introduce these and other animal idioms to little readers. The resulting read is a disjointed affair: an extreme close-up of a minimally detailed, black-and-white animal's face takes up one full page on recto, while the opposite page offers simple, rhyming clues to the animal idiom. When readers turn the page they are greeted with a full, detailed, full-color view of the animal. Although the facial features from the previous page are printed on its verso, the relationship between minimalist and full-color versions will be hazy at best to a board-book audience. The initial views purposely give little clue to the creature's identity, and given the audience's limited experience, the textual clues aren't much help either. "Quick and cheeky, / smart and sneaky. / I'm sly as a… / Fox." While the book succeeds in introducing new vocabulary, it does so in such a decontextualized way that toddlers are unlikely to be able to make use of it. Die-cut peek-through holes (an ox's nostrils; the joint of a clam's shell) provide some continuity but seem more gimmick than anything else. A misfire. (Board book. 1-3)

Kirkus Reviews