Children who already love the Little Blue Truck series will be ready to move on to a holiday celebration with Tractor Mac.
In this entry in the Tractor Mac series, the anthropomorphic red tractor assists with transporting a gigantic evergreen tree into town for the annual Christmas tree–lighting ceremony.
The region around Stony Meadow Farm is getting walloped by a snowstorm, and Tractor Mac is ready to help after the addition of tire chains and a front bucket loader. Farmer Bill and Tractor Mac work together in the snow to dig out Sibley the horse and the huge sled carrying the Christmas tree. On their way into town, Bill and Mac also dig out a dump truck, a fire truck, and a school bus, all on their way to the celebration. The line of vehicles parades into town, following the dump truck as it plows the way. The townspeople decorate the tree and celebrate with songs and food for all at a happy, old-fashioned town party. The humorous, short text includes lots of funny comments from the farm animals and repeated sound effects from Tractor Mac as he works. Appealing watercolor-and-pencil illustrations are filled with swirling snow, talking animals, and vehicles with friendly, bulging eyes who are quite believable in their earnest concern to get the job done and the party started. A bonus feature included on the endpapers shows labeled diagrams of the fire truck and Tractor Mac.
Children who already love the Little Blue Truck series will be ready to move on to a holiday celebration with Tractor Mac. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30112-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
In the crowded field of dinosaur-themed children’s books, this one does not shine.
Do you want to celebrate your birthday with dinosaurs?
“Dinosaurs are BIG and strong. / They’re clumsy and they’re FARTY,” we’re told. “So do you really want them coming / to your birthday party?” A birthday banner drapes across the gutter, while full-bleed art depicts a diverse group of partygoers surrounded by dinos and looking perturbed (one child is holding their nose). The party appears to be thrown by a pair of adults for their child (all are brown-skinned). Spread after spread features overly busy art and more verse about why dinosaurs make poor party guests. A dinosaur at a pool party would jump in and displace all the water. Brontosaurus would love playing hide-and-seek—but likely wouldn’t be very good at it. Dinosaurs would gobble up all the food and, in their haste, accidentally trample all the birthday gifts. But, the narrator points out, dinosaurs are well intentioned, and soon we see examples of prehistoric pals working to make the celebration a smashing success—a group of kids use a dinosaur belly as a trampoline, and a velociraptor joins in for a fun game of tag. Though some dino fans may enjoy this one, it doesn’t rise to the top. The art is garish, and the verse often scans awkwardly. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
In the crowded field of dinosaur-themed children’s books, this one does not shine. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 9781400242054
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Skip this well-meaning but poorly executed celebration.
Children point out the things they love about their fathers.
“Daddy is always kind. He gives us support and shelter when things go wrong.” A child with a skinned knee (and downed ice cream cone) gets a bandage and loving pat from Daddy (no shelter is visible, but the child’s concerned sibling sweetly extends their own cone). Daddy’s a storyteller, a magician, supportive, loyal, silly, patient, and he knows everything. A die-cut hole pierces most pages, positioned so that the increasingly smaller holes to come can be seen through it; what it represents in each scene varies, and it does so with also-variable success. The bland, nonrhyming, inconsistent text does little to attract or keep attention, though the die cuts might (until they fall victim to curious fingers). The text also confusingly mixes first-person singular and plural, sometimes on the same page: “Daddy is like a gardener. He lovingly cares for us and watches us grow. I’m his pride and joy!” Even as the text mixes number the illustrations mix metaphors. This particular gardener daddy is pictured shampooing a child during bathtime. Más’ cartoon illustrations are sweet if murkily interpretive, affection clearly conveyed. Troublingly, though, each father and his child(ren) seem to share the same racial presentation and hair color (sometimes even hairstyle!), shutting out many different family constellations. Más does, however, portray several disabilities: children and adults wearing glasses, a child with a cochlear implant, and another using a wheelchair.
Skip this well-meaning but poorly executed celebration. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12305-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Rodale Kids
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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