HAMMERS, DRILLS, AND WRENCHES

Meet the helpers you’ll need if you want to start building!

Three kids (one pale-skinned, one tan-skinned, and one brown-skinned, firmly outlined against white space) grasp various household tools. Each implement, accurately pictured (though anthropomorphized), stares back with impish, googly eyes. A goofy dog holds up cards with advice (for instance, check with an adult before beginning a project), demonstrates the importance of wearing safety glasses, and assists the trio. As the children work on their project, an unseen narrator describes the tools they use, from pencil and ruler to tape measure, vise, handsaw, hammer, screwdriver, wrench, and more. The kids secure their structure using a level, nails, screws, and nuts and bolts. A tool belt spanning the pooch’s waist keeps everything handy and in its place. And when the job is done, the youngsters must still gather up each item and put it back in the toolbox or hang it on its hook on the wall. Slonim’s careful illustrations provide a precise, close look at each tool. The kids’ intently focused expressions suggest the seriousness of their efforts, while the tools’ personalization and the two animals (a bird as well as the dog) add a note of whimsy. The rhyming text is inconsistent on rhythm but full of accessible, clear, specific, practical advice, and the finished project is perfect: a doghouse for the helpful pooch.

A cute and informative small-scale construction how-to.