A pleaser for fans of big rigs and disaster scenarios alike.
An international gallery of air, sea, and land firefighting and rescue vehicles, with hinged flaps offering peeks inside each.
Drawn with Biesty’s trademark attention to fine detail and printed on stiff cardboard, the eight featured vehicles include an Australian police car festooned with cameras and other high-tech gear, a NATO submarine rescue pod, a big New York City fireboat, and a British Tamar-class motorized lifeboat. Explanatory labels and small views of the vehicle in action or of other makes with similar jobs surround the large central image. Though the artist apparently can’t resist adding an occasional cutaway view, the flaps are designed to be almost invisible at first glance so that viewers can get a sense of what each vehicle actually looks like before they start delving into insides and distinctive gear. The labeling is sometimes perfunctory—the contents of a helicopter ambulance’s baggage compartment are generically dubbed “Emergency equipment,” and a ground-based ambulance features “privacy windows,” whatever that means—but overall the text adds informative notes about specialized features, life-saving capabilities, power plants, top speeds, and other performance data.
A pleaser for fans of big rigs and disaster scenarios alike. (Informational novelty. 5-7)Pub Date: June 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7959-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Mischief and mayhem abound where sly cats are involved. Holy chisels, this is fun!
How can one naughty kitty upend an entire construction site?
Cranky the crane truck—last seen in the picture book Cranky Makes a Friend (2025)—and the other vehicles are hard at work building a new playground when they notice that things seem seriously awry. Paint cans have been knocked over, and tiny footprints are everywhere. All too soon the perpetrator, a small gray cat, makes herself known. The kitty quickly attaches herself to Cranky and causes more chaos: scratching the new beams, climbing the ladder on a newly installed slide, napping on the boxes containing the monkey bars, and, worst of all, making off with Cranky’s lunch. But when it’s clear that she enjoys Cranky’s company, our grumpy protagonist softens toward the animal (“It’s hard for me to stay cranky when there’s a purring cat on my head”) and officially dubs her “Bad Cat.” Though labeled an easy reader, this tale relies on potentially complex words such as mystery, whistle, and pickles. Nevertheless, the storyline reaps maximum fun from its adorable trickster, who believably turns Cranky’s mood around. The art remains simple and uncomplicated, reveling in Cranky’s general gloom and annoyance and Bad Cat’s playful exuberance.
Mischief and mayhem abound where sly cats are involved. Holy chisels, this is fun! (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9780063469099
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An inviting, accessible title for new readers.
Garland’s little red car invites children along for a ride to reading success.
Opening endpapers show an aerial view of a Levittown-like setting with a single driveway occupied by a car. The title page zooms in on this home, with the car facing the reader, its headlights like eyes and its fender a subtle smile. That expression is amplified in the closer view on the first page of the book proper, with the simple text “Car looks good.” But when the car ventures out to “go far,” it ends up becoming quite a mess after mud, smoke, and birds sully its shiny, red body. “Car does not look good now,” reads the controlled text. “Car is sad.” Happily, Car is also resourceful and heads off to a carwash. Simple lines—“Car gets wet. Splash, splash. / Car gets suds. // Car gets a rub. Mmmmmmm”—see it getting clean again. Closing endpapers picture the car driving back through the suburban neighborhood again, its bright yellow headlights echoing the lights in the houses. Digital illustrations may make some children think of Pixar’s Cars films, particularly in scenes where Car’s facial expressions are strongest and most humorous—as when the birds make their mess.
An inviting, accessible title for new readers. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2598-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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