Mayo and Ayliffe move from one favorite set of vehicles—heavy equipment (Dig, Dig, Digging, p. 574) to the other—the ones that make noise and tear through the streets, sky, and waterways. “Whee-oww! Whee-oww! Pull over, make way!” Children will practically hear the sirens wail as a succession of emergencies brings out appropriate rescue vehicles: a police car for a break-in; a tow truck for a wrecked car; a fire truck, a snowplow, ambulance, lifeboat, helicopter, and more. Ayliffe’s collages depict them all as big, blocky, brightly colored shapes, generally seen in action, then retreating afterwards to their respective garages—“all tucked away, / Ready and waiting for the next 911 call.” There is a bit of disconnection between pictures and text, as according to the often-repeated refrain help is always coming—“It’s on the way!”—but never seems to arrive. Still, like Gail Gibbons’s Emergency! (1994), this sends a message at once exciting and reassuring. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-87614-922-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches...
Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.
Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-027139-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
With a tiger at the wheel, the big purple bus rolls all over town, picking up a menagerie of passengers from sheep (“BAAAH, BAAAH, BAAAH”) to vipers—get it? — (“HISS, HISS, HISS”) to skunks (“SSSS, SSSS, SSSS”) before disgorging its dismayed human riders (“HELP! HELP! HELP!”) at an outdoor party. Though wild creatures waddle, tramp, or slither aboard by troops there's always room for more in Karas’s (Raising Sweetness, 1999, etc.) gleeful paint-and-paper collage scenes. The scene on the bus is bound to provoke a great reaction and reading (or honking) along is inevitable. It's a frolicsome spin on the familiar play rhyme, and a surefire alternative or follow-up to Maryann Kovalski's Wheels on the Bus (1987) or Paul Zelinsky's classic popup version (1990). Hop onboard. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8050-5952-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2000
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