As his sandbox toy swells to full size, a young lad announces that he’s going to don a hard hat and “digger-man boots,” then move rocks and mud to create a “digger park” where he can play with his little brother. That’s only for starters, though, because “I will always have a lot of work to do with my digger.” Reflecting this budding construction worker’s enthusiasm, the yellow behemoth practically glows against background expanses of bright green grass and rich brown dirt in the simple illustrations. Truck and machinery fans will dig this—and the closing scene, in which the narrator is seen kindling a like enthusiasm in the next generation by sharing a book and toy with his toddler sib, may inspire young readers to go and do likewise. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-8050-6628-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2003
Goodbye, Mr. Burningham. Thank you for one last grand and memorable flight.
The small dog who learned to drive a car in Motor Miles (2016) takes to the skies.
Left barely begun at his death, Burningham’s second tribute to a beloved Jack Russell terrier is expanded from notes and sketches (the latter smoothly interspersed with Oxenbury’s more finished but equally spare and softly textured watercolors) into a poignant remembrance of the author. Looking for a way to cheer up his aging, droopy canine companion, young Norman Trudge again turns to local handyman Mr. Huddy—who, this time, wheels out an airplane just the right size for a small pilot with paws. Off goes Miles, soaring over fields and towns, by day and night, into and out of clouds. But a day comes at last when Norman helps him into the cockpit one last time and watches as he flies up into the misty sky and away. The narrative, also spare and freighted with feeling, ends with a tender farewell: “Goodbye, Miles.” Norman, his mother, and Mr. Huddy are all light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Goodbye, Mr. Burningham. Thank you for one last grand and memorable flight. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2334-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
Pajama-clad Ben draws a train and steps on board, beginning a ride that takes him “Past green hills/Where horses browse,/An old farm house./A field of cows./And a whir and a whistle,/That seem to be saying,/To go anywhere/Is better than staying.” Painting in a realistic style, Yardley constructs playscapes in which toys and full-size animals or landforms mix, while train and track shift back and forth between solid reality and a simple crayon drawing. Plunging into a subway tunnel, the train stops at last at a station called “In-My-Bed,” so that Ben can crawl beneath the covers and “dream train dreams/Till morning comes.” Other children have taken similar journeys in many books, but the art provides an unusually clear evocation of the way imagination, anchored in reality, can bring the whole world right into the bedroom. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30106-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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