Milusich combines colors and vehicles and turns the resulting mixture into a volume perfect for bedtime. As the sun sets in the city, a yellow taxi picks up a fare. On its journey, it passes other city vehicles. A red pumper truck has helped put out the fire in the corner store. Its job is done: “Off goes its engine. Click. Off go its lights.” A brown delivery truck, a green dump truck, a black-and-white police car, a blue ice-cream truck end their days, and finally it is time for the taxi to head for its own rest in the parking lot. Repetitive phrases will involve younger children but will also set the stage for somnolence as they say goodnight to each vehicle. Gordon’s poster-like artwork, reminiscent of Donald Crews’s, is full of realistic details, depicting the workers doing their jobs and where their vehicles go at night. Expressive headlight-eyes and radiator-mouths tie into the story line and allow readers to see the vehicles going to sleep. Click. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: June 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-525-47940-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2008
Will have truck enthusiasts making the leap to astronomy.
Diggersaurs meet their cosmic counterparts.
Whaite once again combines machine and beast. However, this time, instead of construction trucks, it is Martian rovers who take center stage as readers meet the Roversaurs. Their spindly appendages and agile frames lend themselves nicely to the dinosaur mashup. These Roversaurs have research to conduct. They test soil, take photos, and map the topography of the landscape. They are also looking for the perfect spot to build a special project. They have a “Constructorsaurus” who works late into the night, but when the hologram blueprint is projected, the team quickly realizes they need some help. Diggersaurs to the rescue! The Diggersaurs squad comes flying in on a spaceship, and the two groups merge. While the dino-vehicles may be fantastical, details like the dusty red atmosphere and solar-powered machines are all gateways to further nonfiction exploration. Two astronauts, one with dark skin and one with light (both of whom offer amusing asides), and one tiny alien can be found on each spread. With jaunty rhymes and surefire kid appeal, this one will make any storytime blast off in excitement. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Will have truck enthusiasts making the leap to astronomy. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9780593648599
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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