1, 2, Buckle My Shoe

Booklist

“Bold, simple layouts, the juxtaposition of printed fabrics, and the decorative use of rickrack and stitching make the playful art visually pleasing, but even better is Hines’ fine-tuned understanding of how young children might use the book as they learn to count. Simple and striking.” --Booklist, starred review (5/15/08)

Children's Literature - Susan Borges

This book will be a sheer delight for the youngest readers and their caretakers. A beloved, classic nursery rhyme comes alive as the colorful, glossy pages turn, revealing bold-type text and whimsical artistic representations of each line of this rhyme. On each page there is a quilted applique made from bright fabrics, interesting buttons, rickrack and unusual stitches. Young readers will delight in the simplicity of the book, the familiarity of the nursery rhyme, the large fabric numbers and the quilted applique scenes. The wonderful picture book will be a joyful first reading experience and a welcome addition to a toddler's book collection. Reviewer: Susan Borges

School Library Journal

PreS- The popular verse, included in numerous collections of nursery rhymes, gets the star treatment in this delightful picture book. Illustrated entirely with quilt patches festooned with buttons, the ditty bounces along in bursts of color. The title page introduces the first patch-a little girl in star-covered overalls against a sunny yellow swatch of material, framed by a black border edged in rickrack and sewn upon a solid-color fabric. Then, each number is sewn on a separate quilt square, following the pattern set on the first page. The fabric designs vary, with each page more dazzling than the previous ones. Children will enjoy counting the buttons sewn beside the numbers. The text following each pair of numerals is set against its own patch, and opposite that is a quilted picture of the girl acting out the verse. The last spread contains several pairs of hands adorned with buttons that match their corresponding numbers, 1 through 10. Youngsters who are just learning to count will enjoy poring over the cheerful pictures.-Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT

Kirkus Reviews

The simple old nursery rhyme is given vibrant life in this incandescent concept book. Hines, a gifted quilt artist, illustrates with her fabric art. Each number gets a full page: Numeral, background and frame appear in different fabrics, and embroidery, fancy stitching, rickrack and buttons (one for each number, adding a counting element) decorate. Some of the buttons are star- or heart- or flower-shaped; many of the fabrics are also patterned with flowers, stripes and geometrics in splendid saturated colors that pop off the paper. A small girl in star-covered overalls (and red shoes with buckles, of course) performs the actions indicated by the rhyme. This version ends with "My big fat hen!"-readers see the hen and child playing tug-o-war with a woolen thread. The last spread shows all the numbers one to ten, outlines of children's hands and that array of buttons, one atop each digit allowing readers to count one, then two, then three, all the way up to ten. Joyous and great fun. (Picture book. 3-6)