Dinosaurs driving racecars, dinosaurs riding bicycles—even a whole Tyrannosaurus Rex family tucked into the sleeper car of a passenger train. Where could all of these dinosaurs be going? To the dinosaur reunion, a 40-million-year reunion to be exact. The sometimes rhyming text offers an amusing look at how dinosaurs might actually live among humans, but it's the art that brings this tale to life. Advertisements for Herb Ivore and Sons Expert Gardening service, Stegoland, and drinks offered in convenient ten-gallon cartons are some of the sight gags for the right eye. While the catchy (though often clumsy) writing and clever illustrations offer an amusing take on a familiar subject, the story ultimately goes flat, leaving it merely another dinosaur book. Drive on by unless desperate for another dinosaur fix. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-316-73811-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Megan Tingley/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004
A picture-book favorite despite minor flaws? That’s a 10-4, good buddy.
In McCanna and Frawley’s cheery picture-book debut, miniscule vehicles drive into supersized action.
Accompanied by a bouncy rhyme, several brightly colored trucks rumble through the garden: the lead red-and-blue truck, the more feminine purple truck and the gridlock-loathing aqua truck. Though the color palette and cartoon appearance of the nameless vehicles may seem like a carbon copy of Disney’s Cars (2006), illustrator Frawley has included humorous details for each truck, giving them life beyond their big-screen predecessors. For instance, the red-and-blue truck has jaunty eyebrows created from roof lights, the purple truck’s short bursts of steam look like daisies, and the aqua truck’s expressive eyebrows are actually wiper blades. The illustrations help tell a hilarious story, most notably of a traffic jam featuring a frog, slug and worm who are clearly not amused by the crowded garden path. McCanna similarly handles the text well. The rhythmic pattern is clear, most of the rhyme is spot-on—“Teeny tiny tires. With teeny tiny treads. / Leaving teeny tiny trails between the flower beds”—and the story begs to be read aloud to a group. Typical trucker talk is included in the dialogue—“Breaker breaker, Buddy!” “What’s your twenty, Friend?”—and the lingo is explained in a short glossary at the end of the story. Though the premise is amusing, the proportion of the trucks in relation to their surroundings can be a bit inconsistent. Most images depict the trucks, which are “smaller than a dime,” as being only marginally bigger than ants and bees, yet other images portray the trucks as being much larger—almost half as long as a box of animal crackers. Nevertheless, this delightful story will charm truck-loving children.
A picture-book favorite despite minor flaws? That’s a 10-4, good buddy.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0989668811
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Bahalia Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This sublime absurdity should please adult readers as much as very young listeners.
How did that mammoth get in there? And how to get rid of it?
Young Noah opens the refrigerator, and...“There’s a mammoth in the fridge!” he cries. The family, sitting calmly at the dinner table, is understandably skeptical. “Come and eat your fries,” Dad calls back. But when he sees the mammoth jammed in tightly, he slams the door and tells Mom to call the fire department. A sturdy red truck speeds through the streets: “Wheee-ooo! Wheee-ooo!” One fireman carries a butterfly net, and the other two hold a big square net, grimly. When the first fireman opens the door, the mammoth escapes, leaving them all tangled in the big net. The mammoth hits the street and, pursued by a small crowd, climbs a tall leafy tree, remaining there long enough for everyone to get tired and leave. “Come on. It’s not our problem,” says Noah’s father. Night falls; the mammoth hears “Here, kitty, kitty” and is enticed to come down by a cute little girl named Elsa brandishing a bunch of carrots. She lures him home to her room, where he goes to sleep on the rug...right next to the unicorn, sea monster and dinosaur. With minimal lines, abundant white space and a retro palette, each of Maudet’s illustrations suggests a stand-alone cartoon, nicely in tune with Escoffier’s deadpan drollery.
This sublime absurdity should please adult readers as much as very young listeners. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-8775-7950-9
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
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