Surreally unsatisfying.
The trip to Grandma's house goes through many remarkable places.
A light-skinned child with short dark hair, surrounded by scattered toys and pictures and crayons, hardly seems ready when Mom announces that it's time to go. They're barely out of the neighborhood before the first "Are we there yet?" And that question is repeated over and over as they drive their little red car on a highway filled with various vehicles, across a long suspension bridge, and through farm country and then a desert. Even these ordinary settings have weird touches in McCauley’s vivid, posterlike double-page spreads: there’s a worm riding in a giant paper airplane near the bridge; a minotaur stands in the farm’s field; and a T. Rex looms in the desert. The locations grow quirkier, going underwater and even into outer space, where a young three-eyed extraterrestrial in a flying saucer echoes, “Are we there yet?” Finally at Grandma's house (which is surrounded by topiaries of many of the figures seen along the way), the child astonishingly pronounces the journey: "Boring." McCauley's mixed-media illustrations are bright and slyly amusing; readers will thrill at picking out the peculiar details, most of which have their roots in the child’s toys scattered at the beginning. Was the duo’s anything-but-boring journey all in the child’s head? Regardless, the cynical punch line seems to undercut what appeared to be a celebration of the boundless imagination.
Surreally unsatisfying. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3155-9
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
May try the patience of antsy little ones, though vehicle fans will be delighted.
A cast of critters as impatient as they are colorful yearn for frozen treats.
In a neighborhood occupied by sweet-toothed beasties, the ice cream truck reigns supreme, but a lengthy roster of vehicles must first pass through this animal kingdom—a dump truck, mail truck, and fire truck, to name just a few. Trucks putter through town to onlookers’ delight and disappointment, and spectators bid each one farewell and wish it good luck—all the while dreaming of the delectable goodies to come. Eagle-eyed readers will know when to expect the ice cream truck’s advent, cleverly foreshadowed in the book’s opening spread. While Runyan’s work is pleasing in its simplicity, with characters rendered in bright watercolors and their homes and greenery depicted in appealing collages, Fairbank’s story drags on a shade too long. Though transportation-loving tots will eagerly exclaim over the various vehicles, others will grow frustrated waiting for the titular truck to arrive. Those seeking to incorporate the book into a storytime may want to practice reading this one aloud first, as some of the verses feel a bit clunky.
May try the patience of antsy little ones, though vehicle fans will be delighted. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780062842114
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Should appeal to all the little grump trucks hauling their feelings about.
When dump trucks get angry (really, really angry), head for the hills!
Little Dump Truck is “the happiest member of the construction crew.” Assisting everyone from Excavator to Bulldozer, she hauls her load merrily. But sometimes things just don’t go her way. In rapid succession, dirt is blown in her face, a tire is punctured, and a flock of birds mistake her for a lavatory. Now she’s Little Grump Truck, and the exceedingly poor advice from her co-workers (“Ignore it. You’ll be fine”; “Shake it off!”) pushes her too far. After Little Grump Truck unloads (figuratively and literally) on her colleagues, everyone else has the “grumpies” too. It isn’t until she closes her eyes and focuses that Little Dump Truck is able to clear her mind and lighten her mood. Apologies are in order, and soon everything is humming (for the time being, anyway). Though the narrative doesn’t drill the message home, both child and adult readers alike will hopefully pick up on the fact that pithy aphorisms are maddeningly unhelpful when one is in a bad mood. Gray skies accompany the dump truck’s mood, which is depicted as an ever morphing agglomeration of hard, black scribbles. The accompanying art serves its purpose, investing its trucks with personality via time-honored headlight, windshield-wiper, and grille facial features. Little Dump Truck has a purple cab and green bed and a single lash on each headlight eye. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Should appeal to all the little grump trucks hauling their feelings about. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30081-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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