Gordon follows The Three Little Rigs (2005) and The Ugly Truckling (2004) with his third fractured fairy tale. Hansel and Diesel are young trucks that live in a junkyard, but their family is low on fuel. Brother and sister venture out to look for gas. Afraid of getting lost, Hansel drops a shiny bolt every few feet as they search through the craggy junkyard. One haunting image is a view from above as the pickups pass by massive stacks of tires painted gray, black and white amid swirling snowflakes that cover the bolts. Suddenly the night is illuminated by a gorgeous service station with strung lights and candy-striped pumps. “The Wicked Winch” lures them in with the promise of oil and rest, but soon they are awakened by the screaming of descending saw blades meant to shred them. Though this tale has a happy ending, the merciless shredder may give wee ones a fright. The illustrations swing from bright to dark and the brushstrokes are meticulous. Imbued with industrial surrealism, this story, though harrowing, applauds the ingenuity of youngsters and the embrace of a loving family. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: July 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-058122-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches...
Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.
Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-027139-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
With a tiger at the wheel, the big purple bus rolls all over town, picking up a menagerie of passengers from sheep (“BAAAH, BAAAH, BAAAH”) to vipers—get it? — (“HISS, HISS, HISS”) to skunks (“SSSS, SSSS, SSSS”) before disgorging its dismayed human riders (“HELP! HELP! HELP!”) at an outdoor party. Though wild creatures waddle, tramp, or slither aboard by troops there's always room for more in Karas’s (Raising Sweetness, 1999, etc.) gleeful paint-and-paper collage scenes. The scene on the bus is bound to provoke a great reaction and reading (or honking) along is inevitable. It's a frolicsome spin on the familiar play rhyme, and a surefire alternative or follow-up to Maryann Kovalski's Wheels on the Bus (1987) or Paul Zelinsky's classic popup version (1990). Hop onboard. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8050-5952-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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