Reminiscent of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Fir-Tree,” this story of friendship will warm children’s hearts.
A solitary pine tree on the outskirts of a tree farm enjoys her place near the tracks, where she can hear trains roar past.
A little boy who loves trains as much as she does comes with his father to choose a Christmas tree. There’s an instant connection between the boy and the personified (but not visibly anthropomorphized) tree, and she’s the one he chooses to take home. Lest a child be horrified at the thought of the father cutting down the tree, the illustrations make clear that it’s carefully dug up and roots swaddled in burlap for the trip. The boy is happy, but the tree, now trapped in the corner of a room, is sad that she can no longer hear the trains. When the boy sets up his new toy train around the tree, she’s happy once again. Eventually, the boy and his father take her back to her favorite spot by the tracks and replant her. This beautifully designed and illustrated book conveys the emotional import of moments big and small through a visual rhythm that intersperses double-page spreads with smaller, more intimate scenes in soft ovals set against white space. The title page echoes the cover while framing the publication information within the tracks. Soft reds and greens enhance the Christmas theme, while onomatopoeic display type propels the action. The boy and his family present white.
Reminiscent of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Fir-Tree,” this story of friendship will warm children’s hearts. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-256168-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd.
Little Blue Truck learns that he can be as important as the big yellow school bus.
Little Blue Truck is driving along the country road early one morning when he and driver friend Toad come across a big, yellow, shiny school bus. The school bus is friendly, and so are her animal passengers, but when Little Blue Truck wishes aloud he could do an important job like hers, the school bus says only a bus of her size and features can do this job. Little Blue Truck continues along, a bit envious, and finds Piggy crying by the side of the road, having missed the bus. Little Blue tells Piggy to climb in and takes a creative path to the school—one the bus couldn’t navigate—and with an adventurous spirit, gets Piggy there right on time. The simple, rhyming text opens the story with a sweet, fresh, old-fashioned tone and continues with effortlessly rhythmical lines throughout. Little Blue is a brave, helpful, and hopeful character young readers will root for. Adults will feel a rush of nostalgia and delight in sharing this story with children as the animated vehicles and animals in innocent, colorful countryside scenes evoke wholesome character traits and values of growth, grit, and self-acceptance. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-41224-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A steady paean to time’s passing and the pleasures found along the way.
A front-seat view of a school bus’s long and varied life.
Deftly invoking the anthropomorphized objects in books of old (as in the works of Virginia Lee Burton), Long introduces readers to a small town and the yellow bus that serves it. Using charcoal and graphite, the author/artist portrays a mostly black-and-white world; he relies on colorful acrylics to depict those who enter the bus (who's described with female pronouns), including children ferried to school. Time goes on, and the bus is repurposed to take the elderly around town. Later, she’s abandoned near an overpass but finds a new role sheltering unhoused people. Finally, she’s taken to a farm, where she becomes a playground for goats. With each iteration, we hear the sounds of her passengers, human and otherwise, and the repeated phrase “And they filled her with joy.” At long last a damming project leaves her underwater, but fish find a home in the bus and make her happy. A final view of the town displays a single wavery point of yellow visible beneath the water. Backmatter explains both Long’s inspiration and the model town he made as a visual aid. Though this is a tale of decay over time, the book’s gentle narration, fun sound effects, and empathy grant the old vehicle dignity in her deconstruction. Characters are diverse.
A steady paean to time’s passing and the pleasures found along the way. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2024
ISBN: 9781250903136
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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