A favorite kids’ song with a Play-Doh twist.
This large-sized board book includes an easy-to-push blue button in the bottom right-hand corner of each page that, when depressed, plays the familiar, titular tune, encouraging kids to sing along. The words to one verse of the song are printed on each page spread: The wheels go ’round and ’round; the driver says, “Move on back”; the people bounce up and down; the baby wails, “Wah-wah-wah”; the horn beeps; the wipers swish; and finally, the wheels go ’round once more. The unusual illustrations depict figures made of Play-Doh against a digital outdoor backdrop. The requisite yellow bus is driven by a quirky-looking ostrich whose passengers are an assortment of animals, including a giraffe, a koala, a zebra, a mommy and baby bear, a monkey and more. The bus is shown rolling past office buildings, rows of houses and a playground as it makes its way through town. Unfortunately, the nature of the modeled figures means that the illustrations are extremely static; there’s no sense that these animals are going up and down at all, for instance. Companion volume Old MacDonald Had a Farm also features a recorded tune, one verse of the song per spread and plenty of cute clay critters. For Play-Doh lovers and little ones who can’t get enough of their favorite songs. (Board book. 2-4)
Pub Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-160710-920-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Silver Dolphin
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Children will be intrigued by the fairy-tale quality of this narrative and may enjoy debating the motivations of its...
The pairing of Barnett’s deceptively simple, tongue-in-cheek text with Klassen’s iconic splattered and stenciled watercolor and digital illustrations in earth tones makes for a unique approach to exploring shapes.
Triangle, a black shape with stick legs and large eyes, inhabits a triangular house. Tired of triangular living, he leaves his domain and sets out to play a “sneaky trick” on Square. Walking past a forest of different-sized triangles and shapes resembling huge boulders, he comes to the land of the squares. When he arrives at Square’s house, he hisses at Square’s door like a snake, sending the four-sided shape into conniptions until his laughter gives him away. Mad as heck at the trick, Square chases Triangle back through the forest of shapes to Triangle’s house. Alas, his shape prevents him from entering the triangular doorway. Inadvertently, Square discovers Triangle’s fear of the dark when he blocks the light from the doorway, causing Triangle to cry out with terror. Square claims this is what he intended all along. “But do you really believe him?” The book is limited as shape instruction, as only two easy shapes are depicted, but that’s not really the point. Klassen’s minimalist visuals make for beautiful, surreal landscapes as the shapes go back and forth; Barnett’s even-more-minimalist narrative leaves gaps of many shapes and sizes for readers to ponder.
Children will be intrigued by the fairy-tale quality of this narrative and may enjoy debating the motivations of its peculiar characters. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9603-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Similar to Lenny Hort’s Seals on the Bus, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (2000), this treatment populates the bus with a...
Cabrera continues to adapt nursery rhymes and children’s songs (Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, 2010, etc.) into interactive picture books for the young preschool set, here taking on that beloved bus ride.
Similar to Lenny Hort’s Seals on the Bus, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (2000), this treatment populates the bus with a menagerie of African animals ranging from the common lion and zebra to lesser-known flamingos and bush babies. Most animals make a trio of sounds, like the monkeys’ “Chatter, chatter, chatter” or the hyena’s “Ha, ho, hee,” but on occasion there is action: The chameleon “plays Hide-and-seek.” The tale ends as the giraffe driver delivers the wild riders to a watering hole with a satisfying “SPLISH! SPLASH! SPLOSH! All day long!” Readers will enjoy the journey Cabrera illustrates with her easily recognizable style—bright hues outlined in black, with a finger-paint–like texture.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2350-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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