MAISY'S TRACTOR

Hop on the tractor for a busy day on the farm with the unflappable Maisy.

Along with the simultaneously publishing Maisy's Plane, this title launches the Go with Maisy board-book series. Rounded, die-cut edges make it a pleasure to touch and hold. Stylized primary-color gouache pictures are clear and bright. Cousins is a master at paring every experience down to its essential elements, leaving just enough information to hold the attention of her toddler readers. Each spread has just one declarative sentence: “She brings some hay to the barn to feed the cows.” The little white mouse cheerfully goes about her chores. When she loses a lamb, Maisy calmly retraces her trail, her tractor “chug, chugging” all the way. Of course, astute board-book readers will have noticed the lamb left behind and see that only three made it into the tractor wagon—a nicely embedded math lesson. Youngsters will quickly be chiming in with the “chug, chug” of the tractor and appropriate animals sounds. Her young readers will accept Maisy's self-congratulatory “Well done, Maisy!” as a compliment too.

Well done, Maisy! Keep up the good work.