"This evocative book could be paired to nice effect with Elisha Cooper's sunny Country Fair (1997). (Picture book. 3-8)"
Crews (Shortcut, 1992, etc.) uses, to great effect, the contrast of the night sky and the gaudy lights of typical fair amusements in his picture book of very few words but very kinetic images.
Read full book review >
"Crews brings to each page his elemental, suggestive brushwork: ketchup that is thick and rich and hard to shake out of the bottle, water that is splashy and cold. (Picture book. 5+)"
Shannon (April Showers, 1995, etc.) has created an alphabet book that demands of readers imaginative, often arbitrary leaps, from what is to what will be. ``B is for eggs—tomorrow's BIRDS'' and ``R is for grapes—tomorrow's RAISINS.'' Wheat to flour, clay to pot, caterpillar to moth: Most of the letter play will spark recognition, but the associations of a few are fairly oblique for ABC readers.
Read full book review >
"Of most appeal is Crew's innovative way with these simple, powerful graphics in an arresting (some might even say dissonant) range of colors. (Picture book. 3-7)"
A wooden box—an empty cube—makes a fine receptacle for items signifying, one by one, the months of the year, whose names accumulate in the left-hand margin as the objects—``a red foil heart, a robin's feather, a purple eggshell,'' etc., in hand- tinted b&w photos combined for a collage-like effect—are introduced and then mount up in the box.
Read full book review >
"A breathless tour-de-force for train lovers of any age. (Picture book. 5-8)"
In a return to Bigmama's (1991) small Florida community for a second story based on Crews's childhood memories, a group of children walking through a narrow railroad cut have to dive into the brambles when an unexpected train rockets past.
Read full book review >
"Unusually handsome and useful. (Picture book. 3-8)"
In the style of Giganti and Crews's How Many Snails? (1989), 11 opportunities for children to begin to grasp the concept of multiplication—or simply to count items that may mount into the 50s.
Read full book review >
"A grand alternative to the plethora of predictable books about white kids visiting grandparents on stereotypical family farms. (Picture book. 4-8)"
Beginning with the ride on the old Southern Railway car ("colored" says the sign on the wall), the sights, sounds, and warm delights of a summer visit to Grandma in Crews's own childhood—a three-day trip from somewhere up north.
Read full book review >
"And, impersonalized as the ride is, it's a whole lot less mesmerizing then watching the real thing."
A simulated ride on a carousel—via the blurrrrr of a moving camera—in lieu of an exciting new perceptual experience, such as that afforded by Truck.
Read full book review >
"Much of this, however, approaches the here-and-now norm—executed with greater flair."
The colors are muted, grayed—but that's not the only way Crews' new book differs from Freight Train, Truck, etc. For one thing, it's mostly an album of types of ships found in a harbor, each precisely rendered.
Read full book review >
"All have an immediate impact, but the best are not immediately exhausted."
Though this hasn't the excitement, the page-to-page motion, or the vibrant originality of Freight Train, Trucks, and Rain, Crews' projection of city and country night scenes has its own rhythm and mood as a picture-poem on the theme of lights at night.
Read full book review >
Mr. Crews made an auspicious entrance with We Read: A to Z, which did things with the alphabet that nobody'd done before; this does the same things with numbers that everybody's done before, and better.
Read full book review >
Thank you! You’ll get the first email of recommendations from our critics within a week!
Bummer. There was a problem adding your email address. Please try again.
Subscribe to Pro Connect
Be the first to discover new talent!
Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our Pro Connect email alert.
Sign up here to receive your FREE alerts.
