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SUBWAY RIDE

Name: SUBWAY RIDE
Author: Heather Lynn Miller
ISBN: 978-1-58089-111-0

by Heather Lynn Miller & illustrated by Sue Ramá ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2009

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Take a ride on subway trains all around the world. Beginning in Cairo, a multicultural group of children rides the trains in ten cities, zigzagging from stop to stop around the globe. The brief text is in serviceable near-verse (“Rumbling, roaring— / blurring speed. / Silver bullet. / Rushing breeze”), but barely registers against Ramá’s vibrant digital collages of watercolor art. Vivid colors and blurred lines evoke a bustling cheer. Cleverly composed to suggest both depth and action, the pictures tell most of the story: Atlanta’s dark tunnels, Chicago’s El (a slight deviation from the underground theme), jazz combos in the Stockholm stations and so on, an iconic ticket indicating from place to place where readers and riders are. The book ends with crisp thumbnail portraits of the subways in the cities, which also include London, Mexico City, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. The offbeat idea is deftly handled and should trigger further study. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: July 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-58089-111-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Charlesbridge

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
THIS IS YOUR LIFE CYCLE
by Heather Lynn Miller & illustrated by Michael Chesworth

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RUFUS BLASTS OFF!

by Kim T. Griswell ; illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2017

Those who love pigs, pirates, and planets are sure to be pleased.

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Persuasive pig Rufus Leroy Williams III shatters the porcine glass ceiling—or in this case atmosphere—yet again in his third outing.

Ever since mastering literacy in Rufus Goes to School (2013), the titular pig has used his skills to find adventure. After convincing Capt. Wibblyshins to let him join a pirate crew in Rufus Goes to Sea (2015), his pirate mateys demand fresh new tales—but Rufus is all out! In search of stories, Rufus is determined to go boldly where no pig has gone before: Mars. There’s only one problem: Cmdr. Luna (a black woman) believes that pigs aren’t made of “the right stuff” because they are bound to “do loop-the-loops in the crew cabin” and “hog the juice packets.” Despite Luna’s bias, Rufus isn’t deterred: he’s been rejected before, but that’s never stopped him. After a few tries, he gets lucky: the Mars mission will be cancelled unless they can find someone to read a book on Mars, via livestream, to children around the world. Lucky for them, Rufus is the pig for the job! Quiet pen-and-ink illustrations show the pink pig in his element as he tumbles about, carrying his oversized books with him. While some readers new to Rufus may be puzzled at his jump from golden age piracy to futuristic space travel, fans of Rufus will be glad to see him triumph and will look forward to seeing where his next adventure will take him.

Those who love pigs, pirates, and planets are sure to be pleased. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4549-2099-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
RUFUS GOES TO SCHOOL
by Kim T. Griswell ; illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev

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CARS

From the All About series

by Géraldine Krasinski ; illustrated by Olivier Latyk ; translated by Wendeline A. Hardenberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 5, 2019

Not a high-octane outing, but it could fill in some background for curious would-be motorists just out of their car seats.

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Pull tabs and other special effects rev up this look at the lives of cars, from factory to junkyard.

The book opens with a sparse “museum” of early autos and closes with a visit to a Formula 1 racetrack. In between, single-topic spreads take generic automobiles from design lab to dealer, supply glimpses of a dashboard and beneath the hood, then go on to show what happens at a repair shop, a service station, and a car wash. Moving elements, one or two per page, are fairly sturdy and relatively varied—ranging from large flaps to geared wheels, tabs, and slots that work a hydraulic lift or allow a wreck to be hauled aboard a tow truck. In Hardenberg’s translation from the French, Krasinski’s simply phrased labels and commentary incorporate some distinctive vocabulary: “prototype,” “exhaust pipe,” “pre-owned.” Though hybrid, electric, and driverless cars receive nods, the focus throughout is mainly on traditional gas guzzlers. Latyk darkens the skin of some of the stylized human figures in his simple illustrations, but like the cars on display, most are small on the page and generic of feature.

Not a high-octane outing, but it could fill in some background for curious would-be motorists just out of their car seats. (Informational novelty. 4-6)