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VROOM!

Max had his wolf suit and Llama Llama his red pajamas; Annie has her racing togs. She fits right in.

The title says it all.

Her auburn hair billowing behind like a second cloud of exhaust, little Annie peels out of her bedroom window in a silver bullet of a car. Helmet and gloves in place, she takes straight roads past fields of grain, twists up snow-capped mountains, zooms through deserts and woods. In the city, traffic slows her down for a second, and then she’s winning races, ultimately ending safely back home in a familiar room. “Tomorrow would be another fine day for a drive.” Writing with cadences plucked straight out of Sendak’s playbook, McClintock never wastes a syllable. Annie’s journey encapsulates “hot and dry” deserts and a “cool, damp forest.” The book allows kids the exhilaration of escape, coupling speed and danger with a warm bed and cuddle after a long day. Vast panoramic vistas from on high contrast exquisitely with intimate shots like that of Annie’s face in her rear-view mirror. Little details include the hubcaps that adorn Annie’s bedroom wall or the bald eagle peeking out of a tree as the girl whizzes past. The book doesn’t just put readers in Annie’s shoes. It dares them to find shoes of their own and let their imaginations take the wheel. Annie and her family present white.

Max had his wolf suit and Llama Llama his red pajamas; Annie has her racing togs. She fits right in. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: July 2, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-62672-217-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019

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LITTLE RED SLEIGH

Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.

A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.

Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)

Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland

Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020

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GOOD NIGHT, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK

A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.

Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!

Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.

A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019

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