CARS AND TRUCKS

This simple board book and its three companions focus on picture recognition and learning everyday words.

An equal number of boys and girls take the wheel in this illustrated list of vehicles. Some of the children are even brown-skinned with curly dark hair. Curry's characters sport the same round heads and noses as Charles Schulz's Peanuts gang, and the girl driving the school bus even looks an awful lot like Peppermint Patty. Curry's palette is slightly off from primary colors, with pink undertones and surprising tints. Still, iconic elements keep them recognizable. Neither the taxi nor the school bus is yellow, for instance, but their shapes are typical. Trains, Boats, and Planes expands on the transportation theme with more unusual choices, a couple a bit problematic. Steam trains are in widespread use, even in England, where Curry lives, and most Americans would say “light rail” instead of “express train.” It is also redundant to refer to “An underwater submarine.” Zoo Animals and Farm Animals follow similar formats, with one animal described by one adjective per page. In the latter, the sheep and pig are paired with their babies, and the book ends with a white farmer driving a tractor towing a trailer.

This colorful addition to the board-book shelf gives toddlers just learning to talk much to talk about.