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AS TIME WENT BY

Name: AS TIME WENT BY
Author: José Sanabria
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4248-9

by José Sanabria ; illustrated by José Sanabria ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2016

A lovely, rich book to spend time with.

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South American artist Sanabria offers a picture book about a ship and so much more.

The story is broken up into three parts. In the first, watercolor-and-ink illustrations that evoke Maira Kalman’s style invite close inspection of a luxury liner “with very important people on board.” The deck of the ship dominates the opening double-page spread, and people in fancy clothes mill about. But a page turn reveals that “as time went by, the ship was sold to a merchant,” and its days of luxury are gone when it finally ends up “abandoned.” The second section depicts a similar downward spiral in the life of a wealthy family that loses its material wealth and ends up living in a village with other poor people until a powerful man tells them all to leave. In Part 3, the displaced people find the abandoned ship, and “with the help of a man who had loved the sea since he was a boy and knew a lot,” they fix it up so it can sail again and provide a new home for all. The careful, elegiac text uses the phrase “as time went by” as a leitmotif; though it may seem to imply inevitability, it also allows for intentional change. Careful readers will note that this man was depicted as a boy with a toy ship on the title page, and he appears in the first two parts of the picture book, as well.

A lovely, rich book to spend time with. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7358-4248-9

Page Count: 48

Publisher: NorthSouth

Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
A PAGE IN THE WIND
by José Sanabria & María Laura Díaz Domínguez ; illustrated by José Sanabria ; translated by Audrey Hall

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TINY LITTLE ROCKET

by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 31, 2018

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.

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This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.

Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 31, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LIONHEART
by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge

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TOW TRUCK JOE

From the Tow Truck Joe series

by June Sobel ; illustrated by Patrick Corrigan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019

A delight for car and truck fans young and old.

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Don’t cry over spilled milk. Add crumbled cookies and freeze to make Cookie Crunch ice cream with your friends instead.

Tow truck Joe and his pup, Patch, roam Drivedale honking “Hello!” and helping vehicles (all are anthropomorphic) in trouble. They charge batteries and replace flat tires until “SCREECH! BANG! CRUNCH! CRASH” An accident! It appears the milk truck was going too fast and hit a cart full of cookies. What a mess! Traffic is at a standstill, but Joe, Patch, and all the other trucks help out. The cement mixer is ready. The bulldozer cleans up the cookie crumbles, and the grocery truck supplies sugar and vanilla. Patch adds milk from the milk truck, and the mixer stirs everything up. An ice cream truck offers to freeze the mixture. Voila! Cookie Crunch ice cream! Slowly and carefully, all the vehicles follow Joe and Patch to the garage to end the busy day with scoops of their delicious ice cream creation. Related in an easy, conversational rhyme with clear and bright illustrations, this story is a good read-aloud, but it’s an even better one-on-one read. Children and adults need to pore over the written puns in the illustrations. Signs such as “BIG WHEEL COOKIES—THEY TASTE WHEELY GREAT” and “KNEAD FOR SPEED BAKERY” are too good to miss.

A delight for car and truck fans young and old. (Picture book. 4-8)