Fast, faster, fastest! Kids infatuated with speed will love this book of comparisons of things that move like greased lightning. The book starts out by comparing a fast human pace with that of an ostrich (45 mph) and a cheetah (70 mph), and accelerates from there. The animal kingdom is quickly outraced by machines, machines are in turn put to shame by meteorites, and a beam of light proves the ultimate speedster. A chart compares how long each creature or object would take to get to the moon—a good exercise in understanding comparisons, as well as chart- reading. The illustrations are active and bright, occasionally switching from horizontal layouts to vertical ones. Turning the book on its side slows things down a bit, but readers will find that this book on speed has a momentum all its own. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8075-2280-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In a backwards counting story, Flather follows ten boisterous canines on their daily excursion. Readers observe as the gang of adventurous pups dwindles from ten to one as each dog becomes distracted during the mad dash around town. The lure of chasing one’s own tail, being too hot to trot, and a passing bee are some of the whimsical diversions. Jaunty rhymes relate the action and demonstrate a wry appreciation of canine idiosyncrasies. “Four silly dogs/are climbing/ the stairs./If one fuzzy dog/just stops and stares,/then there are three/climbing the stairs.” Every numeral introduced is highlighted in a bright red box. The full-page, richly hued illustrations capture in energetic lines dogs at play. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30192-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
Between midnight and noon a family sleeps, wakes, then leaves the house to the pets and a pair of enterprising mice, while a grandfather clock sounds hourly “dings” and “dongs.” Children can practice an increasingly old-fashioned skill by manipulating clock hands on the cover as they listen to Behrman’s rhymed text and view Takahashi’s spacious, twisty domestic scenes. It’s an adequate second choice, after Dan Harper’s Telling Time with Big Mama Cat (1998); that book has a less generic story line, and is designed so that the clock face folds out. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5804-4
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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