bookshelf

MAZESCAPES

Name: MAZESCAPES
Author: Roxie Munro
ISBN: 1-58717-060-4

by Roxie Munro & illustrated by Roxie Munro ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2001

bookshelf

Children who enjoy poring over Bonnie and Arthur Geisert’s “town” plans (Desert Town, p. 182, etc.) and the like will have a ball with this series of connected mazes from the author of the “Inside Outside” series. In high, finely detailed aerial views, Munro takes a family on a drive, from house to the zoo and back—a trip that requires passing through successive tangles of city streets, highway interchanges, and busy traffic circles. There’s plenty to spot on the way, too, from school buses, bicycles, and dog walkers to letters of the alphabet and items beginning with those letters. Fellow travelers can even choose their own cars, from a set of punch-out models tucked into an envelope, and a concluding set of visual keys to the mazes will give impatient or clueless viewers a leg up. It’s a ride worth taking more than once. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2001

ISBN: 1-58717-060-4

Page Count: 36

Publisher: SeaStar/North-South

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2001

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LIZARDS AT LARGE
by Roxie Munro ; illustrated by Roxie Munro

- BOOK REVIEW
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE DESERT
by Roxie Munro ; illustrated by Roxie Munro

- BOOK REVIEW
ABCITY
by Roxie Munro ; illustrated by Roxie Munro

bookshelf

TINY LITTLE ROCKET

by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 31, 2018

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.

bookshelf

This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.

Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 31, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LIONHEART
by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge

bookshelf

TRASHY TOWN

by Andrea Zimmerman & David Clemesha ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1999

Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches...

bookshelf

Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.

Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.

Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)