bookshelf

SIGN OFF

Name: SIGN OFF
Author: Stephen Savage
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1210-1

by Stephen Savage ; illustrated by Stephen Savage ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019

This book is heavy on concept and light on execution, and readers may be yawning before the end

bookshelf

Characters from familiar road signs come to life at night and get up to a bit of mischief in this nearly wordless book.

The leaping deer reaches up to sample the leaves from a tree; the farmer and tractor get busy plowing in the cornfield; the person who uses a wheelchair wheels away; the road-crew worker creates a sand castle with their shovel; the school child in trousers woos the one in a skirt with a flower; the running “[child] at play” goes for a swing; the two children on the seesaw pull down the toy and join the others in a quaint procession as they march up a hill together. The group removes the yellow circle from a traffic-signal sign and use the seesaw to fling it into the sky, where it becomes…the rising sun. They celebrate and then disperse. As a school bus approaches at the end, the deer is back in its place on the sign, leaving readers to infer the others are on their signs as well. The stark, computer-drawn landscapes are clearly intended to coordinate with the black silhouettes of the road-sign figures; however once readers get the premise, there is not much else to engage their attention, since the vast majority of this unusually long book is occupied by buildup.

This book is heavy on concept and light on execution, and readers may be yawning before the end . (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: May 7, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5344-1210-1

Page Count: 56

Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
MOONLIGHT
by Stephen Savage ; illustrated by Stephen Savage

- BOOK REVIEW
AND THEN CAME HOPE
by Stephen Savage ; illustrated by Stephen Savage

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BABYSITTER FROM ANOTHER PLANET
by Stephen Savage ; illustrated by Stephen Savage

bookshelf

GOOD NIGHT, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 22, 2019

A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.

bookshelf

Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!

Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.

A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

bookshelf

DIGGER, DOZER, DUMPER

by Hope Vestergaard ; illustrated by David Slonim ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 27, 2013

While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.

bookshelf

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)