A spirited sibling story filled with whimsical, imaginative adventures.
In Nelson’s series-launching picture book, siblings explore enchanted happenings in the sea and sky.
At night, the White siblings Winter and George sit on a pier, knowing “the sea was magic, filled to its peaks with all kinds of interesting smells, sounds and creatures.” When the moon beckons them with a “shimmering path” extending “across the sea until it stopped right in front of them,” they step into the light, transported to a path filled with sweet-smelling “Moon Blossoms,” flowers that resemble white morning glories. When “the path ended, dropping off into the thick blackness of space,” the kids teeter on the edge but are plucked up by Archie, a playful “baby giant squid,” who tosses them into the sky. There, they float among the stars. The siblings have a marvelous time despite some mishaps, one of which occurs when Archie flails, causing Winter to tumble and inhale stars that taste like “dirt and glitter.” When Mom calls them to return, Archie takes them back to the pier, and the siblings excitedly await their next exploration. This brief but engaging tale explores how opportunities for adventure may arise where you least expect them. Nelson’s descriptions (“stars twinkling like tiny golden fairies”) are evocative and lyrical. The text uses a white font on a dark background, which fits the setting of the story but may deter those who dislike dark-mode reading. Fitzgerald’s illustrations feature atmospheric nighttime backdrops embellished with a shiny moon and stars and richly toned skies and waters. In the final scene Winter and George mull over possible future escapades amid silhouettes of mermaids, sea creatures, and a sunken ship, perhaps indicating their subsequent discoveries.
A spirited sibling story filled with whimsical, imaginative adventures.Pub Date: March 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63988-235-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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