Standing out as bright and unique in an increasingly competitive genre of picture books highlighting wheeled machines, Lyon and Frazier team up to seamlessly combine loads of truck facts with some funky whimsy to mesmerize the tot that can’t get enough. The graphics grab the attention with day-glow colors and close-up, bold details of many and various trucks. The imagination is further stirred by all manner of cargo these big vehicles carry to and fro. “Trucks have trailers. Trucks have cabs.” Right, sure, everyone knows that. “Some haul rabbits. Some haul labs.” Wait a minute! The illustration shows a long-eared bunny in the bed of a truck facing a panting yellow dog in another. The reader may ponder whether trucks really haul giant chocolate-chip cookies, huge puzzles and spaceships unless they belong in the toy box. At the end of the day, the tired trucker stops at the groovy truck stop with its retro, lighted sign. This is a great way to get young reading engines revved up and rolling. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: June 5, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4169-2435-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2007
Paintings reminiscent of photographs illustrate a young boy’s trucking dreams. Wesley plays in a room scattered with toy cars, trucks, and copies of the illustrator’s earlier books when something amazing happens: his red semi-flatbed grows into a full-sized truck. He hooks up his rig to two trailers of lumber and zooms away, honking his horn for the children at the bus stop, listening to the CB radio, and helping a stranded yellow service truck—which looks just like a full-grown version of one of his toys. When a blinding rain comes and Wesley’s truck blows out a tire, that same service truck stops to lend a hand. The service truck leads Wesley through the rain to his destination, a lumber yard. Wesley’s adventure has all been an exciting dream, but when he wakes up, he’s ready to spend an exciting day with Daddy on Daddy’s big rig. Unexciting prose is enlivened by heavily textured, light-filled acrylics that emphasize the dream-like nature. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-439-39877-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2004
Thumping verses convey the rush and bustle of a crowded subway trip. A tiny girl and her mother ride uptown on the subway, listen to a busker’s saxophone playing, and transfer trains to complete their ride. The multicultural and smiling crowd is loudly colorful in bright, textured patterned outfits that accentuate the teeming multitudes. The passengers show constant delight, from their gleeful dances to the music, to their tight squeeze into a car: “open the door / to let in more / more, more, more / on the subway.” Movement and energy fill the bright and crowded pages since this is the subway as seen through the eyes of one thrilled at the adventure: busy, joyful, and exciting. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-670-03622-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2004
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