Undeniably beautiful but narratively unsatisfying.
A picture-book celebration of several kinds of trains.
Rhyming text opens with a passenger train “puffing, chuffing, never yawning, / Climbing hills as day is dawning.” A little white boy boards the train in the country, and then a black girl does in the city (their dress and the sleekness of the train’s carriage hint at a mid-20th-century American setting), but the book doesn’t merely follow them through the pages. Instead, a freight train pulled by an old-fashioned, black, coal-burning locomotive and then a circus train pulled by a cheerily red locomotive make appearances, and words and pictures work together to depict their separate journeys through different landscapes and in varied weather conditions. That all three of these trains coexist at the same time is indicated by simultaneous depictions of big, midcentury sedans and trucks at crossings and bridges. But aside from this fact and the fact that they are trains, there is little to link the three visual stories. The full-bleed oil paintings provide ample detail of the scenery for each journey, and they employ varying points of view to enhance visual interest. Ultimately, however, readers’ efforts to link the trains’ respective journeys will be stymied, which undermines the book’s cohesion. An illustrated glossary at the book’s end will likely prompt readers to look back at the pictures to identify specific train cars and other things associated with railroads and trains.
Undeniably beautiful but narratively unsatisfying. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-38074-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do.
Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from “Cement Mixer”: “No time to wait; / he can’t sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden.” Slonim’s trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures—Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in “Bulldozer”: “He’s not a bully, either, / although he’s big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough.” A few trucks’ jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: “Skid-Steer Loader” focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but “Semi” runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing.
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5078-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Engines won’t be the only thing roaring their approval when this book hits storytime.
Who needs sanity when you’ve got family?
The title character of Elbow Grease (2018) and his family of Demolition Derby trucks return to face an all-new competitor. Once again, ’Bo is feeling inadequate next to his fan-favorite brothers. Despite Mel the Mechanic’s encouragement—he’s “the best at getting better”—he wants to be noticed. But instead, he notices someone unavoidable. Motozilla, the monster machine that turns trucks “into crunch sandwiches,” is currently undefeated. Trouble is, you’d need a truck with an array of skills to take him down. Thinking fast, ’Bo makes the wild and somewhat improbable suggestion that he and his brothers join together to form a single supertruck. Will it be enough to take down this bully? Quips, jests, and teamwork are the name of the game as pro wrestler Cena improves on his writing in this second outing, which demonstrates that individual glory falls in the face of concentrated cooperation. Rollicking, radical art portrays the battle in all its gritty glory, mud and twisted metal galore. Human crowds show a diverse range of races and genders, and the trucks’ keeper, Mel, has light-brown skin and wears glasses.
Engines won’t be the only thing roaring their approval when this book hits storytime. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7353-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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