by Violet Peto ; illustrated by DK Publishing ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2017
With its companion, a suitable introduction to the puzzles found in dentist-office magazines, with the same short-term...
A busy book tests the patience of young children who are just learning to read pictures.
Each double-page spread focuses on a vehicle type: flying machines, cars, farm equipment, bikes, and so on. But there’s something odd in each category. Is that wheel made of a lemon and that one a pizza? Actually, yes. Leading questions are posed on each spread. Side-by-side scenes of emergency equipment and boats seem identical, but readers are invited to look more closely to find 10 differences. A bit of information, often without any picture clue, is included on each spread. For example, a sentence about horses and carriages runs across the bottom of the car spread, but there are no horses or carriages shown. Instead, the rather arbitrary instructions are to “spot three squirrels” and “count ten trees.” An answer key on the final spread may allay the frustration of both child and adult readers. Animals, published simultaneously, uses a similar format with beasts from different biomes. The subtle differences will challenge the board-book set, so they are best studied with a helpful adult or older sibling. Older children may be put off by the board pages and will easily remember the answers.
With its companion, a suitable introduction to the puzzles found in dentist-office magazines, with the same short-term appeal. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4654-5620-5
Page Count: 16
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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by June Sobel ; illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2019
A Christmas train book that gets derailed by a lacking story arc.
Not quite the Polar Express….
Sobel’s rhyming text fails to deliver a clear premise for the eponymous goodnight train’s Christmas Eve progress through the pages, and Huliska-Beith’s acrylic paintings embellished with fabric and paper collage don’t clarify the storytelling. At the start of the picture book, a bevy of anthropomorphic animals decorates a rather rickety-looking engine, and then human children gather around and pile into train cars that look like beds and cribs. The train follows a track, seemingly in pursuit of Santa’s sleigh, but to what end isn’t clear. They travel “through a town of gingerbread” and through the woods to find the sleigh blocking the tracks and the reindeer snoozing while, mystifyingly, Santa counts some sheep. Perching the sleigh on the train’s cowcatcher, they all proceed to the North Pole, where the “elves all cheer. / Santa’s here until next year!” But then the goodnight train just…leaves, “heading home on Christmas Eve.” Was this a dream? It definitely wasn’t a story with a satisfying beginning, middle, and end. Santa’s face is never seen; the human children and elves are diverse.
A Christmas train book that gets derailed by a lacking story arc. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-61840-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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by Amy Novesky ; illustrated by Sara Gillingham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 15, 2016
Truck lovers of any gender will find this title a treat, but the hyperfeminine companion is sadly restrictive.
Richly textured board pages and a limited color palette distinguish this tribute to trucks.
The gray buckram cover is a delight to hold, while bright red endpapers promise excitement within. Beautifully designed using shades of red, black, white, and brown on matte pages, the whole package has a retro, letterpress feel. The first truck is a firetruck big enough for a brown-skinned child to straddle. Later pages feature construction vehicles, a flatbed trailer, and an ice cream truck. The slight text has a lyrical quality, though the occasional rhymes seem accidental. Relatively abstract concepts are casually introduced, “Love is a kid who lines them all up. Biggest to smallest, color by color.” On the final page the brown-skinned child is kissed goodnight while clutching a truck under a road-patterned blanket. The main character wears plaid bib overalls and has longish curly hair. Another child, also brown-skinned, with close-cropped hair, plays with the construction trucks, shares a treat from the ice cream truck, and offers a goodnight kiss. Unfortunately, a less gender-neutral companion volume, Love Is a Tutu, clearly aims for the ballerina market with an excess of pink. Together the two books assure little girls they can love both tutus and trucks. Unfortunately, they send a mixed message to little boys.
Truck lovers of any gender will find this title a treat, but the hyperfeminine companion is sadly restrictive. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-937359-86-7
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cameron + Company
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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