The cutesy and busy illustrations, confusing text, and sometimes-delicate tabs keep this from delivering everything it...
If lifting flaps is the goal, the 52 contained in this board book deliver.
A winking red “SPED-X!” truck on the cover promises intriguing treats on the die-cut pages within. On the first spread flaps on a fleet of four trucks reveal the tools of the trade: boxes, packing materials, a dolly, a pallet. Successive pages highlight specific types of cargo. Unfortunately, essential information is sacrificed in favor of rhyming text. For example, “A truck full of rides is the BEST ONE YET!” is identified as a carnival truck only by its clown face. But it does rhyme with the next, equally confusing, line: “But nothing beats the lovable truck that delivers your new PET!” This may have children wondering where the pet-delivery trucks in their neighborhood are. Similarly, a truck described as smelling “sweet” is delivering flowers, not the ice cream most children would assume. A double-page spread of a vehicle carrier is the most intriguing, though the double-cut tabs will quickly tear, and the vehicles revealed offer an odd mix of vocabulary. (What looks like a military jeep is identified as a “clunker”; other tabs hide a “hybrid car” with dangling plug, a personal “watercraft,” and an “ATV.”) Caregivers should heed the back cover’s caution: “HANDLE WITH CARE.”
The cutesy and busy illustrations, confusing text, and sometimes-delicate tabs keep this from delivering everything it promises. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: May 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9219-5
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The lack of real excitement will make these helpers fade from memory like sirens on a distant road.
Part emergency adventure, part reassurance that help is on the way—youngsters fascinated by vehicles with sirens will be attracted to this board book.
Straightforward, declarative text and fanciful, somewhat futuristic pictures describe “a big beautiful world, filled with awesome adventures.” The second spread previews the helpers and their vehicles with profile views of six types of vehicles against a clean white background. The final spread shows front views of the same six rescue vehicles. In between, spreads focus on three different emergencies. In a busy spread headlined “Uh-oh, an accident,” readers see a police car, an ambulance, and a tow truck, while a police helicopter hovers overhead. “Uh-oh, a storm!” shows the water-based versions of emergency vehicles against a rain-gray background. “Uh-oh, a fire!” focuses on firefighters, with police and EMTs playing supporting roles. All the vehicles are staffed by smiling animal characters reminiscent of Richard Scarry’s Busytown creatures but without the whimsy of those classics. The final text proclaims that “helpers…are the ones who save the world.” The wordy text and detailed pictures make this board book most suited for older toddlers intrigued by emergency vehicles, but the placid delivery is out of sync with the notion that the depicted world is in peril.
The lack of real excitement will make these helpers fade from memory like sirens on a distant road. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0599-8
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The lesson that a lot goes into producing the food we eat is a valuable one, and the trucks make it go down easy.
Young heavy-equipment fanciers can feast on this agriculturally oriented entry in the Finn’s Fun Trucks series.
Farmer Sandy introduces children to some of the heavy gear used to grow and harvest the produce that they eat. Following the same format as the other books in the series, Sandy observes that each machine has its own specific purpose and then challenges readers to guess its function. Featured equipment includes a tractor, plow, spreader, harvester, and baler. Each machine is named on verso and pictured opposite, with three key components labelled; readers are asked to guess what each one does. The page with the diagram then folds out to show the equipment at work, with an explanation of its use. The simple, utilitarian artwork is easily interpreted, and the book introduces some useful industrial and agrarian vocabulary. The fold-out flaps will engage readers eager to see the machinery in action. “A plow attaches to the back of the tractor. It turns the soil over so crops will grow tall and healthy,” for example. After presenting his farm fleet, Sandy, a white man with a gray beard, asks, “Can you guess what they can do when they all work together?” Answer: “They can grow all kinds of great food.” The simultaneously publishing Rapid Responders gives emergency vehicles the same treatment.
The lesson that a lot goes into producing the food we eat is a valuable one, and the trucks make it go down easy. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4867-1488-9
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Flowerpot Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
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