Make some vroom for this one on your shelves
In his fifth vehicular exploration, Light brings eight cars to life with dynamic visuals and playful onomatopoeia.
“The police car goes, WHEEOW WHEEOW WHEEOW WHEEOW WHEEOW WHEEEEEE- oooooow / The old jalopy goes, CHITTYCHITTY KKKKTTT SHPPPTTT CHITTYCHITTY SHPPPTTT.” Next youngsters meet a hot rod, a pickup truck, a monster truck, a sports car, and a taxi on 12-inch-wide by 6-inch-high board pages, a signature element of the series. Rendered in highly saturated colors and loose lines, the cars whiz over textured roadways against white backgrounds. The animated text in a variety of types, sizes, and colors gives hints as to how it should be read, but grown-ups sharing it with little ones may want to rehearse first. There are fun, vocabulary-building, teachable moments to be had here with the inclusion of the jalopy and even, on the last page, the car of the future which goes, “WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO TODAY?” And the toddler response will, of course, be: “Again!”
Make some vroom for this one on your shelves . (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5067-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
From any perspective, Older’s yeomanly tale of the snow vehicle’s birth is as worthy to know as the inspiration of the...
The quest to invent a skimobile, which burned in one man’s heart as fiercely as the Holy Grail, as researched and re-imagined by Older.
Older tells the story of Joseph-Armand Bombardier in the unhurried manner of a river approaching the sea, allowing for plenty of twists and turns as it goes its leisurely way. Bombardier was a boy of his time, and his time—the early years of the 20th century—was all about engines. Link that to his home place—Quebec, where it snowed like crazy for seven months a year and no one bothered to plow the few roads—and his drive to create a snow vehicle is as understandable as might be his love for hot chocolate. The author charts his route from his small village to Montreal, his journeymanship as a mechanic, his marriage and the loss of his son because he couldn’t get him to the hospital through the winter drifts. His gradual fashioning of his workhorse snow machine “to carry doctors to patients, priests to parishioners, children to school” unfolds naturally. It’s a warm story, made toastier still by Lauritano’s spare, retro drawings, which are complemented by period photographs. An affectionate author’s note parses fact from fiction and is followed by a timeline, a bibliography, glossary and index.
From any perspective, Older’s yeomanly tale of the snow vehicle’s birth is as worthy to know as the inspiration of the Iditarod. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-58089-334-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the flaws, these colorful and shapely vehicles will appeal to the target audience.
Shaped die-cut holes adorn a wide range of vehicles.
The basic forms—square, circle and triangle—are represented here, along with the more rare diamond, oval and heart. The featured shape on each page is a key element on one vehicle, like the triangular sail of a sailboat or the circular wheel of a tractor. Each vehicle gets its own page and is accompanied by a simple caption. Some of the shape and vehicle pairings are clever, such as the octagon doubling as the body of the cement mixer, but a few feel a little forced—in particular, the star as the front of the motorcycle, a visually baffling composition. The left-hand page of each double-page spread asks the reader a direct question (“Do you see a rectangle?”). Floating alongside the text is a small image of the shape, but the die-cut hole always appears on the facing page. Urban often uses several shapes to create the vehicles, and the die-cut holes are layered together, so more than one shape is visible. This makes this “shape-and-seek” game a bit more challenging than many. Bold, solid backgrounds offer a clean, graphic look, but several scenes look a little sparse, since the die-cut holes force the hand of the artist in terms of placement and layout.
Despite the flaws, these colorful and shapely vehicles will appeal to the target audience. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: June 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-46179-5
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
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