Mayo and Ayliffe move from one favorite set of vehicles—heavy equipment (Dig, Dig, Digging, p. 574) to the other—the ones that make noise and tear through the streets, sky, and waterways. “Whee-oww! Whee-oww! Pull over, make way!” Children will practically hear the sirens wail as a succession of emergencies brings out appropriate rescue vehicles: a police car for a break-in; a tow truck for a wrecked car; a fire truck, a snowplow, ambulance, lifeboat, helicopter, and more. Ayliffe’s collages depict them all as big, blocky, brightly colored shapes, generally seen in action, then retreating afterwards to their respective garages—“all tucked away, / Ready and waiting for the next 911 call.” There is a bit of disconnection between pictures and text, as according to the often-repeated refrain help is always coming—“It’s on the way!”—but never seems to arrive. Still, like Gail Gibbons’s Emergency! (1994), this sends a message at once exciting and reassuring. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-87614-922-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
Passenger trains may be disappearing from the American landscape but Collicutt’s resplendent illustrations portray them in all their streamlined glory. He puts trains in scenes resembling old railroad calendar shots, showing them winding through the countryside, or depicting flashy steam engines and diesels pulling away from futuristic cities. The text is basic—“This is a train in the country. This is a train in the city,”—which gives the pictures obvious precedence. Endpapers attach names and countries of origin to the various types, from the Japanese high speed electric train to the Santa Fe Super Chief. Collicutt offers a tribute void of fustiness, a salute that looks too “now” to be nostalgic. (Picture book. 2-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 8, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-37493-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999
Stiff and stylized in the polished deco-style paintings, Angelo looks like a mannequin as he goes about pumping gas at Lucky's all-night garage, circa 1939. As his shift progresses, Angelo serves a foxy lady biker who outlines her mouth ``with the brightest red lipstick Angelo has ever seen,'' an opera-singing Italian papa and his five children, and a bus full of cranky musicians. A bride and groom in a leaky convertible sit out a sudden storm (``some honeymoon''), and a fashionable drunk in ``top hat and tails as rumpled/as an unmade bed'' mooches a nickel for the candy machine. The jazzy design and bold, shiny artwork command more attention than the story; the string of unrelated incidents will recall old movies and other sources of nostalgia for adults but may not satisfy young children. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-7868-0200-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1996
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