The crew at The Village Garage works all spring, summer, autumn and winter, having fun while they patch potholes, clear leaves, plow snow, fix cars and keep their friendly town in good working order. Outdoorsy readers keen on machinery, construction, toting and hauling will grunt with pleasure at the Garage guys’ practical skills and unflagging energy. Gouache, acrylic and pencil illustrations conjure a cheery, busy village, whose community spirit is captured by the important work at The Village Garage. The crew’s smiling faces appear on every page, even those depicting many phases of hard labor. Abbreviated sentences, with powerful verbs (people holler, storms blow in) effectively capture the honed, pragmatic thinking that makes real-life problem-solving so satisfying. Characters, almost all men, break a sweat fixing the town’s perennial problems but laugh through the seasons too. A Fourth-of-July party and winter karaoke give the crew (and readers) a break for much-deserved playtime. Sunny, energetic artwork makes life and work in this village feel joyous and rewarding. Inspired readers might head straight outside to their own yards, ready to weed the garden or rake leaves. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: June 8, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8716-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2010
The flat ending is disappointing for a group of characters who could have exhibited a rousing rhythmic finale.
Just before showtime, the animals in the band must search for their instruments in the lost and found by their identifying sounds.
A mouse happily claims the trumpet after a congenial-looking rabbit clerk produces a bicycle horn, trumpet, and toy train in response to a request for an instrument that makes a “Toot! Toot! Toot!” sound. Similarly a beaver retrieves the triangle from an assortment of things that make a “Ding! Ding! Ding!” sound. An elephant and a squirrel find their piano and drum, and the band reassembles, led by their conductor, a bat. The animals’ questions are phrased in rhyming couplets: “The thing I lost goes Plink! Plank! Plunk! I play it with my big, long trunk,” explains the elephant. The simple, black-outlined cartoons against a white or pale yellow background extend the narrative so that readers are expected to discern objects with their corresponding sounds. The rabbit offers the elephant first a piggy bank (“Plink!”), then a flowerpot full of water (“Plank!”), and then a comically tiny piano (“Plunk!”). Unfortunately, as the band comes together, their meager performance reflects the bareness of this storyline. The bat ends the search and exclaims, “You found my things! They sound so grand. / One, two, three— // let’s hit it, band! / Toot! Ding! Plunk! Boom!”
The flat ending is disappointing for a group of characters who could have exhibited a rousing rhythmic finale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-238068-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A bedtime read-aloud that young kids and caregivers will have a ball with.
Everybody needs a bath sometimes, even hippos! But how do they manage it?
McMullan offers a rhyming bathtime book that looks at all the different ways our animal friends keep themselves clean. From kittens licking themselves to monkey mamas combing through fur, all animals approach their cleaning routines differently. But what about those lovable little humans in our lives? They can’t let fish nibble on them as turtles do or wallow in mud with the piggies! Kids will enjoy seeing pictures of animal favorites getting clean, but they will really laugh as they see children trying to bathe themselves in the same ways as their animal counterparts. Three different children are portrayed, of different gender and race presentations, giving many kids the opportunity to see themselves in the pages. The illustrations are bright, with a cartoonish feel to them, showing not only different animals, but their habitats as well. Both the animals and children are delightfully expressive, which brings everything to life. The rhymes sometimes feel a little clunky, but that’s a small quibble in an otherwise charming book.
A bedtime read-aloud that young kids and caregivers will have a ball with. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6517-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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