A somewhat confusing journey that goes nowhere in particular.
Two older gentlemen go on a magical train-themed adventure in Donald and Rachel Westbrook’s picture book.
Mr. Mazoo and Mr. Tyler are two gentlemen of advanced years who share a mansion in Tennessee and a passion for toy trains. One day, Mr. Mazoo asks, “Wouldn’t it be great, wouldn’t it be grand, if we could play with these trains at their own size, and be small as they are small?” Happily, the men own a machine that can shrink them to fit the toy trains. They climb in and spend hours circling the tracks—but when it’s time for them to rest and have a meal, they find that they’re too little to open the refrigerator. Mr. Mazoo and Mr. Tyler’s solution is to get onto the fastest train they can find and return to the shrinking machine, which returns them to their normal sizes. Unfortunately, it also enlarges the train, which becomes so big it wreaks havoc on the mansion. This debut picture book from the Westbrooks is a comedic but confusing tale that has no lesson and little plot development—while preschool readers may find it absurdly funny that the men have a shrinking machine in their home, this is just a little too convenient. Lufti’s cartoonlike illustrations are similarly sparse in detail, as can be seen in the mostly-empty mansion kitchen.
A somewhat confusing journey that goes nowhere in particular.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9798341812369
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Barnes and Noble Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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