A charming reminder that friends don’t need to say a lot; warm hearts and expressions speak volumes.
You don’t need many words to express emotions.
This New Zealand import, featuring a young child and a brown, wide-eyed, blue-collared pooch pal, proves this. The meanings inherent in the minimal text are quite precise. How minimal? One page includes a sentence comprising three words; some pages contain from one to four words. Yet the spare language—some could characterize it as labeling on some pages—carries much weight, and the words are descriptive. This is clearly seen in the simple yet pithy, expressive illustration on each page. For example, note the close, deliberate association between the facial expressions of the dog and/or its tan-skinned, dark-haired guardian when the single words happy, sad, shy, or angry appear. And, for not-yet-reading or emergent readers, the concise language serves as a great vocabulary developer, too. Take the word rowdy, for instance—a term likely unfamiliar to the preschool crowd. To extend this book’s learning value, adults could guide listeners to suggest other terms to appropriately describe the artwork. Children would also enjoy making faces in a mirror and then talking about their expressions or creating original drawings and dictating one-word (or more) descriptors. Dog lovers and pet owners will especially relate to this small book about the warm, empathic relationship between a child and a beloved animal. Another background character is depicted with dark-brown skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A charming reminder that friends don’t need to say a lot; warm hearts and expressions speak volumes. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-77657-486-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires.
Little Blue Truck feels, well, blue when he delivers valentine after valentine but receives nary a one.
His bed overflowing with cards, Blue sets out to deliver a yellow card with purple polka dots and a shiny purple heart to Hen, one with a shiny fuchsia heart to Pig, a big, shiny, red heart-shaped card to Horse, and so on. With each delivery there is an exchange of Beeps from Blue and the appropriate animal sounds from his friends, Blue’s Beeps always set in blue and the animal’s vocalization in a color that matches the card it receives. But as Blue heads home, his deliveries complete, his headlight eyes are sad and his front bumper droops ever so slightly. Blue is therefore surprised (but readers may not be) when he pulls into his garage to be greeted by all his friends with a shiny blue valentine just for him. In this, Blue’s seventh outing, it’s not just the sturdy protagonist that seems to be wilting. Schertle’s verse, usually reliable, stumbles more than once; stanzas such as “But Valentine’s Day / didn’t seem much fun / when he didn’t get cards / from anyone” will cause hitches during read-alouds. The illustrations, done by Joseph in the style of original series collaborator Jill McElmurry, are pleasant enough, but his compositions often feel stiff and forced.
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-27244-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
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Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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