Why settle for ordinary? Ride a “chicken bus” in Guatemala! (Picture book/song. 3-6)
The familiar song gets a new setting in this trip to a Guatemalan market.
The green and orange bus, roof piled high with baskets and bowls, bags and chickens, leaves the village just as the sun is coming up: “The bus starts up with a rumble and crunch. / The driver calls out, ‘We’ll be there by lunch.’ / The bus starts up with a rumble and a crunch / On the journey to the town.” The wheels go round over dusty ground, the children shout and play along the way, the papis stand up to sing and hum and bang a drum, and the babies cry bouncing low and high, until suddenly, “BANG!” A granny is there to calm the children, the mamis find a spare, and the people all lift the bus. Backmatter includes some facts about Guatemala and the first verse and music to the song. While the lines of the song do not strictly repeat, the bright illustrations may prompt repeat readings, and children will catch on to the lines that vary. Ochre and tropical shades of blue, green and yellow fill the full-bleed illustrations with color, energy and vibrant patterns, as befits the Central American setting. Happy people share the bus’s interior with polka-dot chickens, the women all wear long skirts, the men sport hats, and donkeys and goats dot the countryside.
Why settle for ordinary? Ride a “chicken bus” in Guatemala! (Picture book/song. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-84686-787-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do.
Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from “Cement Mixer”: “No time to wait; / he can’t sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden.” Slonim’s trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures—Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in “Bulldozer”: “He’s not a bully, either, / although he’s big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough.” A few trucks’ jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: “Skid-Steer Loader” focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but “Semi” runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing.
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5078-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An uplifting tale that will especially resonate with truck mavens.
In this follow-up to Trash Truck (2020), two good pals keep on truckin’.
Donny, a raccoon, and Walter, a bear, are besties who do everything together, from taking care of dental hygiene (hilariously, Donny brushes using a tree branch, while Walter flosses with a bootlace) to savoring a light dumpster breakfast to taking a bit of exercise (such as running from a swarm of angry bees after Walter steals their honey). “Clever and crafty” Donny and Walter are into subterfuge: To trick a vendor into selling them ice cream, Walter dons an overcoat, and Donny, sporting a fedora, rides atop the bear’s shoulders. Life’s good—except these two have no one to play with. Jump rope’s no fun; if each of them holds one end of the rope, no one can jump. Seesawing is unequally balanced, weight-wise. They don’t have much luck searching for friends, but, ever optimistic, they continue looking. Then, when least expected, two great buddies literally pick them up: It’s Trash Truck and young, blond, pale-skinned Hank! And what adventures follow! Donny and Walter can now jump rope, and the “disguised” ice cream buyers now order four cones. Whether or not readers are already familiar with Trash Truck and Hank from the previous book, they’re in for sprightly fun; the cartoony color illustrations, featuring endearing characters, are filled with giggle-worthy sight gags. Background humans are diverse.
An uplifting tale that will especially resonate with truck mavens. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780063349414
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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