May inspire a few test drives but lacking in horsepower next to Leo Timmers’ Gus’s Garage (2017) or even Gail Gibbons’ staid...
Over the course of a day, a parade of vehicles from a motorcycle to a fire truck check in to a garage for servicing, mechanical repairs, a paint job, or a wash.
The text promises “a world of great surprises” when the illustrations of this latest entry in the Shine-a-Light series are positioned in front of a light source. The trick does give viewers a sort of X-ray vision that allows glimpses inside tool boxes and a motor home, and they can see through a building to the tow truck that’s parked around a corner. Some of the details hinted at (a mechanic attaching a huge wheel to a heavy-duty tractor, the tail fins of a 1950s-era roadster, and a car emerging from a car wash, for instance) are at least partially visible and easily recognizable in the illustrations, rendering the silhouetted, backlit view something of an anticlimax. Other details (a motorcycle being, well, detailed and underground gasoline storage tanks, for instance) are a bit more interesting. The various vehicles and tools on display are all thoroughly stylized, too. Still, Davis does stock his preternaturally tidy, clean garage with mechanics of both sexes and dark- as well as light-skinned figures, and the author closes with quick descriptive comments about each type of vehicle that stops in.
May inspire a few test drives but lacking in horsepower next to Leo Timmers’ Gus’s Garage (2017) or even Gail Gibbons’ staid Tranportation (2017). (Informational novelty. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61067-598-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
In attempting to address both the importance of exercise and the value of social activism, the story fails to truly engage...
Noticing that her mother lacks energy and has put on some weight, young Estela suggests that she join some of the neighbors in the salsa class at the community recreation center.
Eventually, Mami joins and finds that she enjoys the exercise. The teacher lets Estela join in the salsa class too, until the director of the center decides that children are no longer allowed in the class. Estela is disappointed, but then she learns about petitions in school. Suddenly, her parents are helping her set up a table where Estela collects hundreds of signatures. She even gains the support of the mayor, and the recreation center opens a salsa class for kids. As if this weren’t over-the-top enough, Estela receives an award from the mayor and special recognition at the school, including a ribbon to wear that reads “#1 Student.” The story then awkwardly jumps back to the importance of exercise for both adults and children, commenting on the “trim and healthy” appearances of Estela and her mother. The illustrations portray diverse people with varying body types, but they feel stiff. Some of the spreads seem sketchlike in their lack of detail.
In attempting to address both the importance of exercise and the value of social activism, the story fails to truly engage readers on either topic. (Bilingual picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55885-762-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Eurocentric despite stops on each (permanently inhabited) continent, but a bright debut for the Finnish artist.
A one-day world tour strolls through 11 bustling cityscapes—highly stylized but with identifying clues and recognizable landmarks tucked within stacked rows of streets and clusters of buildings.
References in the rhymed commentary to “[t]eeming streets and bhangra beats” or “[c]apoeira dancers whirling” provide location clues, but aside from London, New York, Rio and Paris, most scenes are crowded composites. In one, a gondolier glides between a leaning tower and an erupting volcano; another offers a view of Uluru across a stretch of water near the Sydney Opera House. On each page, three to five small square or rectangular flaps—artfully concealed by landscape or architectural lines—hide glimpses of underground activity, people within structures or other visual surprises. Nieminen’s tiny human figures, all of which are faceless or have black dots for heads, convey a message contrary to Broom’s conclusion “that though we might look different, / underneath we’re just the same.” Still, everyone here from the walking narrator to shopkeepers, sunbathers, ice skaters and window washers (there are a lot of windows) is doing something, and the flat, graphic art’s vibrant colors kick up the collective energy of all that activity.
Eurocentric despite stops on each (permanently inhabited) continent, but a bright debut for the Finnish artist. (Informational novelty. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6895-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Big Picture/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
