First-timer Powell, wife of Secretary of State Colin Powell, offers a straightforward text of four sentences, in each edition, allows a young bear to detail the handy uses he finds for his wagon—pushing, pulling, going uphill and down, etc. Irregularly occurring rhymes add a hint of musicality to each version, and the illustrations supply details not included in the words, allowing young listeners to supplement the telling. Winborn’s (Bigger, Better, Best, 2002, etc.) brightly colored paintings share a sense of charm and whimsicality with Rosemary Wells’s Max and Ruby illustrations, though Winborn’s artwork is more detailed, her animals furrier, more lifelike, more three-dimensional. When, for example, the protagonist takes his wagon exploring, a fat little bird perches on the wagon’s upraised handle, beneath which rest a bird’s nest and a water bottle with floral decorations. Two owls peep out of a hole in the tree, while cattails bend and little pink flowers star the background. Designed for ages two to four, these board books will also have a place in the hands of kindergarten and first-grade students, giving beginning readers in either English or Spanish a bite-size opportunity for read-alone success. (Board book. 2-6)
