by Jonathan London & illustrated by Denis Roche ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2007
A good picture book on trains can be as pleasurable as witnessing the real thing tear the air and move the earth under your feet. London’s buoyant, this-side-of-simple rhymer falls into that class. Decked out with chunky, saturated-color artwork by Roche, the book explores different types of trains: great, sharking behemoths (“A train could be fast, / like a silvery gleam”) to chugalugs (“Or a train could be slow, / like a lazy stream”), along with the different freights they carry and the varying landscapes they inhabit, from the mysterious trainyards to the open plains. London has fun playing with language—“A train goes jiggly-rumba / on down that long track”—while Roche does a fine job shifting perspectives, keeping things animated, sometimes loopily so. And the trains are always swarming with people, giving readers a distinct sense that trains are far from untouchable, but very real things that they can engage; all they need is a ticket to ride (maybe mom and dad, too). London’s invitation flashes like a signal lantern and rings like a bell. All Aboard! (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-8050-7972-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007
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by Christopher Silas Neal ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2018
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Bruce Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2004
This charming, colorful counting tale of ten little fish runs full-circle. Although the light verse opens and closes with ten fish swimming in a line, page-by-page the line grows shorter as the number of fish diminishes one-by-one. One fish dives down, one gets lost, one hides, and another takes a nap until a single fish remains. Then along comes another fish to form a couple and suddenly a new family of little fish emerges to begin all over. Slick, digitally-created images of brilliant marine flora and fauna give an illusion of underwater depth and silence enhancing the verse’s numerical and theatrical progression. The holistic story bubbles with life’s endless cycle. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-439-63569-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004
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