by Sue Tarsky ; illustrated by Alex Willmore ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2018
An amusing riff on an old favorite that’ll please many little ones.
The wheel on the bus goes bust.
A red bus filled with all sorts of anthropomorphic animals is chugging along when suddenly: “BANG! Uh-oh!” One of the tires has been punctured, stopping the bus in its tracks. “The driver on the bus says, ‘Off, off, off,’ ” and “the handywoman’s wrench goes click, clack, click” as the text continues in tune with the famous song and the animals figure out what to do with a broken bus. Little readers familiar with the “Wheels on the Bus” will love this new spin on the standard, and caregivers will certainly appreciate a variation on a song they’ve sung more times than they can count. The illustrations are drawn and colored with simplicity, presenting the series of events as plainly as possible in double-page spreads that pull back wide for full view of vehicles and some of the bus’s larger patrons. The animals are a diverse lot, and Willmore has fun with the license granted by the decision to clothe them, painting purple bears and bunnies, a pink hippo, and a blue elephant. The handywoman with her wrench is an extra nice touch, but it’s too bad she doesn’t actually fix that flat.
An amusing riff on an old favorite that’ll please many little ones. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8075-8869-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Sue Tarsky
BOOK REVIEW
by Sue Tarsky ; illustrated by Michael Garton
BOOK REVIEW
by Sue Tarsky ; illustrated by Claire Lordon
BOOK REVIEW
by Sue Tarsky ; illustrated by Marina Aizen
by Amanda Driscoll ; illustrated by Amanda Driscoll ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 2021
Should appeal to all the little grump trucks hauling their feelings about.
When dump trucks get angry (really, really angry), head for the hills!
Little Dump Truck is “the happiest member of the construction crew.” Assisting everyone from Excavator to Bulldozer, she hauls her load merrily. But sometimes things just don’t go her way. In rapid succession, dirt is blown in her face, a tire is punctured, and a flock of birds mistake her for a lavatory. Now she’s Little Grump Truck, and the exceedingly poor advice from her co-workers (“Ignore it. You’ll be fine”; “Shake it off!”) pushes her too far. After Little Grump Truck unloads (figuratively and literally) on her colleagues, everyone else has the “grumpies” too. It isn’t until she closes her eyes and focuses that Little Dump Truck is able to clear her mind and lighten her mood. Apologies are in order, and soon everything is humming (for the time being, anyway). Though the narrative doesn’t drill the message home, both child and adult readers alike will hopefully pick up on the fact that pithy aphorisms are maddeningly unhelpful when one is in a bad mood. Gray skies accompany the dump truck’s mood, which is depicted as an ever morphing agglomeration of hard, black scribbles. The accompanying art serves its purpose, investing its trucks with personality via time-honored headlight, windshield-wiper, and grille facial features. Little Dump Truck has a purple cab and green bed and a single lash on each headlight eye. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Should appeal to all the little grump trucks hauling their feelings about. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30081-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
Share your opinion of this book
More by Amanda Driscoll
BOOK REVIEW
by Amanda Driscoll ; illustrated by Amanda Driscoll
BOOK REVIEW
by Amanda Driscoll ; illustrated by Amanda Driscoll
BOOK REVIEW
by Amanda Driscoll ; illustrated by Amanda Driscoll
by B.B. Bourne & illustrated by Simon Abbott ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2012
Traffic jams, it turns out, can be good fun, and children might even learn a word or two.
A genial elementary reader that taps into the electricity generated by Brian Biggs’ Everything Goes: On Land (2011).
This book has been designed to share with very beginning readers, as Bourne’s text amply illustrates in its simple repetitions: “ ‘Woof, woof, woof.’…The dog wags his tail. The dog does not want to stop. The dog wants to see.” Then there is the truck honking—“Honk, honk, honk!”—at the tree that has fallen across the road, causing the traffic jam that is the story’s pivot. Though the text can feel overly purpose-driven, and the words more to be absorbed than befriended, such is not the case with Abbott’s artwork—“in the style of Brian Biggs,”according to the title page—which is amiability itself. The line work is crayon bold, and the color so saturated it is thick as fudge. But there is something else lurking in the illustrations, something Claymation-tangible, which may arouse the urge to bring them home and introduce them to mother. If one of the objects of an early-early reader is to keep the reader focused, this artwork immeasurably helps.
Traffic jams, it turns out, can be good fun, and children might even learn a word or two. (Early reader. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-195819-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Brian Biggs ; illustrated by Brian Biggs
by Brian Biggs ; illustrated by Brian Biggs
by Brian Biggs ; illustrated by Brian Biggs
More by B.B. Bourne
BOOK REVIEW
by B.B. Bourne illustrated by Simon Abbott
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.