While construction-equipment bedtime books have become a genre in and of themselves, there’s still room for one more...
You can lead a bulldozer to bed, but you can’t make him sleep.
Seemingly acquiescent, Little Bulldozer is ready to be put down for the night by his human mom and dad. But even after a bath and tooth-brushing, sleep eludes him. In a series of actions that will be familiar to caregivers everywhere, Little Bulldozer thumps around his room, reads a book (The Little Engine that Could) too loudly to himself, and even attempts a failed stealth mission down the stairs to see what his parents are up to. Only when he slips into his older sisters’ room (a steamroller and excavator, respectively) does sleep finally overtake the restless little machine. With its tiny human parents/enormous inhuman children dynamic, the book owes more than a passing nod to Jane Yolen and Mark Teague’s How Do Dinosaurs series. But if Broach’s tale is by no means original it nevertheless remains soothing in its familiarity. Done in pencil and Adobe Photoshop art, the accompanying illustrations are sweetly humorous. They even contain the occasional oddball detail, such as background family portraits showing ancestors with old-timey car heads. Jackson’s art also plays up the inherent ridiculous logistics of an inside bulldozer’s life, such as how he would act on a spring mattress or how caterpillar treads might tiptoe. Little Bulldozer’s parents have brown skin and black hair.
While construction-equipment bedtime books have become a genre in and of themselves, there’s still room for one more good-hearted tale of antsy, agitated equipment. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-10928-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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