Paint-box bright photographs of wheeled transportation cover the gamut from skateboards and wheelchairs to fire trucks and backhoes. There is a fine mixture of urban and rural vehicles, and the link between skateboards and dump trucks is one that will be new to many in the book's intended audience. Through judicious use of cropping and long shots, Rotner (Faces, 1994, etc.) varies what could have been a monotonous group of side views, and she uses the advertising on vehicles to adroit effect (she even manages to include a dinosaur). The pages are crammed full; an excellent use of borders and type boxes keep the ideas coherent and the book fun to pore over. A sparkling contribution to a popular subject. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-71815-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
Plucky animals rescue stuck truck. As the bright blue truck with headlights like eyes rattles down the country road, all the animals greet it. A big yellow dump truck comes zooming by; after passing Blue, Dump gets stuck in a patch of mud. Blue tries to help, but he gets stuck as well. Lickety split, the cow, the horse, the sheep, the chicken—all the farm animals—pitch in to free the two vehicles. They can’t quite budge the trucks until the big green toad (pictured knee-deep in mud in a muscleman pose) joins the team. Out pop the trucks. Dump learns a valuable lesson—“a lot depends on a helping hand from a few good friends”—and Blue gives the animals a lift back to the farm. Schertle’s rhythmic text—accented on the page by judiciously applied colored inks—fairly chants itself. McElmurry’s vibrant illustrations, in gouache on watercolor paper, recall Cooney and Burton in palette, line and design. This crisp rendition of a familiar scenario is sure to become a storytime favorite. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: May 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-15-205661-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Extremely simple and rather sweet.
Bulldozer is worried about what to give his friends for Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, Dump Truck is carrying, Digger Truck is stringing, and Crane Truck is lifting—all in service of decorating for Christmas. But Bulldozer is on the side, surrounded by cats, worrying. He has not a single gift for his friends. What can he do? He sees a tire half buried in the snow and wonders what other treasures might be there. He starts to dig, and he hits something…but it turns out to be junk. He keeps on digging and finds something else: “more junk.” He keeps digging and digging. The piles grow larger, the sky gets darker, and Bulldozer’s hope fades. But then he thinks he sees something through the snow. He pokes the pile of junk this way and that. He adds bits and pieces. As his friends call out to him that it’s quitting time, Bulldozer puts last touches on his gift. He moves aside to reveal his creation to his friends, and all are pleased with the gift. The little yellow Bulldozer with his entourage of animal friends is a likable character whose plight children will relate to and whose noncommercial solution is a model for creative youngsters to take as inspiration. Best for wrapping a message of giving within a truck-loving package full of sound effects. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Extremely simple and rather sweet. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3820-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
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