What is Soft?

by Susan Kantor, Erin Barker (Illustrator)

Overview

What is soft? Soft can be all kinds of things: a sweater, a whisper, the tickling of grass under your feet. This gentle read-aloud explores the many different ways “soft” appears in our world, with a perfect ending to send little ones into sweet, soft dreams!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936669639
Publisher:	blue manatee press
Publication date:	04/01/2018
Pages:	14
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 5.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Erin Barker is an illustrator and designer living in Cincinnati, OH. She works at blue manatee bookstore and What is Soft? is her first children's book. Susan Kantor worked as a graphic designer, children’s book editor, and a senior writer/editor for Girl Scouts of the USA. She lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

"'Soft is a feather, soft is a cloud, / soft is a whisper, soft is not loud': So goes the rhyming text, which is accompanied by a mix of spot art and full- and double-page spreads in what looks to be a mix of velvety watercolor and pencil. A diverse cast of wide-eyed children, adult caregivers, and animals acts out the scenes. Most of the illustrations are endearing, particularly one of a brown-eyed, brown-skinned tot bottle-feeding a baby lamb and another of a black father and child enjoying a goodnight kiss on the last spread. ...[T]he abundance of examples will give caregivers and children plenty of ideas for spotting softness in the world around them." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2018-03-18
From feathers to a fluffy bunny, a tally of all things soft for little ones. "Soft is a feather, soft is a cloud, / soft is a whisper, soft is not loud": So goes the rhyming text, which is accompanied by a mix of spot art and full- and double-page spreads in what looks to be a mix of velvety watercolor and pencil. A diverse cast of wide-eyed children, adult caregivers, and animals acts out the scenes. Most of the illustrations are endearing, particularly one of a brown-eyed, brown-skinned tot bottle-feeding a baby lamb and another of a black father and child enjoying a goodnight kiss on the last spread. However, a couple of scenes don't scan well due to puzzling visuals (a white kid with long hair reclining to gaze up at the "soft" clouds in the grass with just the top of their head visible) or content (why would one hug a rose?). Nevertheless, the abundance of examples will give caregivers and children plenty of ideas for spotting softness in the world around them. Despite the hard board pages, this project mostly delivers as advertised. (Board book. 1-3)

Kirkus Reviews