A cheery yellow school bus, grille grinning from headlight to headlight, introduces itself to the children it carries from home to school and back again in rhythmic, three-line stanzas: “Watch those backpacks coming through. / Have fun today. Learn something new. / Later I’ll come back for you.” Like any good bus, it works to remember the children’s names, punctuating its narration with personal greetings and goodbyes. The verse form is just right for eager preschoolers to latch onto, and Polenghi’s digital illustrations feature busy, colorful scenes with heavy, black outlines, the titular bus dominating every composition. As a first-day-of-school reassurance for newly minted kindergartners, for whom the school bus is an often anxiety-producing rite of passage, this one’s top-notch. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: June 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-545-08918-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
Joe and his mum and dad are vacationing at the Ocean Star Hotel. At first the weather is perfect; Joe gets to learn to swim and visit the boardwalk. The sixth day dawns foggy and rainy and Joe, who looks to be about five, quickly becomes bored. The hotel’s owner, Mr. Robertson, offers Joe a trip around the world. After expressing disbelief, Joe follows Mr. Robertson up to the attic and enters the world of the Ocean Star Express. Mr. Robertson’s miniature train set travels from room to room in the attic, and each new room is a different environment: snow-capped mountains, camel-filled deserts, lighthouse by the sea. They paint a figurine to look like Joe and then place it on the train. When they go downstairs, the rain has stopped. Even after the vacation is over, Joe rides the Ocean Star Express in his dreams. Haddon has created a sweet and simple story that young train enthusiasts will enjoy. They will likely identify with Joe and get into the illustrations of the Express in its many different rooms. However, the text may be too long and lack the pep some of the youngest train lovers demand. Sutton’s illustrations are similar to Christian Birmingham’s from Haddon’s Sea of Tranquility (1996). They are soft, almost nostalgic, but realistic and some feature a giant-seeming Joe behind the scenery. Purchase multiple copies if you’ve got demand—the paperback binding is strong, but won’t hold up like a hardcover. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2003
ISBN: 0-00-664600-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins UK/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pearson takes fledgling readers out for a spin with this alphabet of trucks and traffic signs. Miller illustrates them all, Ambulance to Zamboni, with clean-lined, brightly colored roadscapes well stocked with angular vehicles—themselves stocked with a diverse cast of smiling drivers and passengers. With verbal imagery as bright as the art—“Tt is for Tow Truck. It goes fishing for cars with its giant hook, reeling them up and dragging them off”—plus ranked lines of common signs on the endpapers and several keepsakes available for downloading on Miller’s Web site, this is one ride on which children aren’t going to whine, “Are we there yet?” (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-8234-1722-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2003
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