This rhyme will burn bright for imaginations that are ignited by sirens, red trucks and lifesaving heroes. When the alarm sounds, “CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!” the firefighters rush down the pole and prepare to face the emergency. They “[p]ut on great big fireproof suits. Put on helmets, gloves, and boots.” With their eager Dalmatian at the heel, they jump aboard the cherry red truck and let the sirens wail. They reach the flaming building with hoses squirting, save lives and, after much toiling, vanquish the flames. Back at the station, they gear down, clean up and settle in with cookies and coffee. There are loads of details and plenty of noisy sound words like “crackle,” “roar” and “whoosh” to keep preschool minds captivated. The illustrations are bright and bold with crisp graphics of eager firefighters, orange flames and the well-equipped fire truck figuring prominently. The simplicity of the artwork, however, sets this book far apart from Hubbell’s previous three: Cars (2006), Trucks (2003) and Trains (2005), which focus more on vehicles and feature inventive collage art by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy. This one’s a siren song for those youngest of firefighters. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-7614-5337-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2007
All aboard for a spooktacularly sleepy ride!
The goodnight train is back for a not-so-scary fourth installment.
The nighttime locomotive travels through an autumnal landscape that’s bursting with Halloween tropes. As in the previous stories, bed-shaped cars are hooked up for a train ride; here, three diverse children are dressed in their Halloween finest as a skeleton, a princess, and a bee. Fans of the series will find the usual perks of a solid rhyme scheme, additional words and sounds peppering the illustrations, and pages of yawning creatures signaling that it’s time for bed. Those unfamiliar with the series will also find the book amusing, but readers who really love Halloween—or spooky things like bats, ghosts, and black cats—will enjoy it the most. As with the other installments in this series, educators and librarians will find this useful for seasonal book displays and storytimes but will probably keep it out year-round because it checks many of the boxes that signal a solid addition to any board-book library. Die-cut circles of various sizes are sprinkled across the double-page spreads, giving caregivers a chance to test young readers’ predictive skills while providing small hints at what’s to come. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
All aboard for a spooktacularly sleepy ride! (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-3586-2607-7
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sutton’s latest is a truck-lover’s dream come true—repetition, rhyme and onomatopoeia form the text, while construction trucks vie for readers’ attention in the illustrations. The result is a wonderfully noisy look at how roads are built. From a line on a map and an empty field to the finished road complete with lights and signs, youngsters will be able to follow all the steps, learning all the vehicles that take part in the process (a final page introduces readers to each one). “Pack the ground. Pack the ground. / Roll one way, then back. / Make the roadbed good and hard. / Clang! Crunch! Crack!” Lovelock’s debut certainly makes an impression. His pigmented ink illustrations keep the focus on the machines and the individual parts they play in building the road. The level of detail matches the text’s intended audience—enough to satisfy, not so much as to overwhelm. Pave the way to this book’s shelf; perfect for read-alouds, it will be a hit whether shared with a group or one-on-one. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: July 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3912-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2008
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