This intergenerational romp filled with sight gags and puns will keep readers humming as they pore over each detail-packed...
A flower-power VW bus races cross-country along crowded dirt lanes and city freeways to the tune of “This Old Man.”
A chaotic counting adventure ensues as the van and its precariously attached luggage rack motors along past construction vehicles, trains, tractors, and anything else on wheels: “This old van, she passed ONE, / shining in the rising sun. / With a click clack rattle rack, / ready for some fun, / this old van says, / ‘GOOD-BYE, ONE!’ ” Conahan’s soft pastel palette and comically inventive, Peter Max–inspired illustrations—from the grinning, wide-eyed bulldozers to the hard-hat–wearing mountain goats—are reminiscent of the Saturday-morning-cartoons of the 1960s. The peace-sign–waving, green-shaded–, tie-dye–, and bell-bottom–sporting grandparents who own the titular van leave their home on Hippie Way in Groovytown to keep a date with their grandson Jake for his derby meet. Challenged by flat tires and flying dirt clods, the happy-go-lucky, aging flower children don’t let anything keep them down for long. With the pedal to the metal, Gramps at last cajoles (with Granny and the dog pushing from behind) the aging van over one last hill to the finish line.
This intergenerational romp filled with sight gags and puns will keep readers humming as they pore over each detail-packed page. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4549-1063-3
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.
After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.
Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026
ISBN: 9780063436121
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
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Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
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