Beautifully controlled pacing and an immensely satisfying rainbow resolution make this book an effective refutation of...
A mother struggles to get her curious little boy to their morning train.
Flat illustrations and matte digital coloring evoke the two-dimensional, strategic thinking she needs to successfully advance her morning commute. Heavy charcoal linework and thick outlines offer broad, vivid projections of the friendly people, animals, and city scenes that greet the boy and his mother on their walk, as well as the child's strong desire to investigate and the mother's urgent need to make the train. She steers insistently headlong up the road as he zigzags and doubles back to points of interest: a waving workman, bubbling tropical fish, a butterfly, hungry ducks. Back and forth and with each page turn, the two call to each other, "Hurry" and "Wait." Sheepish grown-ups will see themselves in the mother, with her eyes and body angled away from the boy, and children will grin at this book's implicit validation of young people's desire to meander. Panoramic double-page spreads describe their movements toward the station, where the mother finally shouts out a bigger “hurry,” and large raindrops begin to fall. Just as the train boards, the boy stops dead in his tracks, seeing something in the sky that just demands a moment to enjoy. Finally, his mother agrees, scoops him up, and marvels.
Beautifully controlled pacing and an immensely satisfying rainbow resolution make this book an effective refutation of frenzied schedules. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: July 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59643-921-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: April 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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