More style than substance.
Learn (some of) the tools of (some of) the trade(s).
Bold posterlike illustrations work in tandem across each oversized double-page spread to define a selection of tools used by a variety of professions and hobbies, both real and fantastical. The verso page highlights from three to eight items commonly used by each profession while the recto page presents a practitioner accoutered with the depicted items and accessories. The people represent a range of skin tones, ages, and sizes, and the jobs and hobbies are equally diverse, ranging from astronaut to superhero. The professions are not arranged in any apparent order, which makes each page turn a bit of a surprise. Equally surprising are the tools selected for each profession: The skater’s (actually a skateboarder, a light-skinned woman) do not include a helmet but do include other safety gear while the fisherman (a White, bearded old salt) is depicted with no actual tools at all. It certainly is visually interesting, but it’s disappointingly reliant on stereotype and will probably do little to encourage creative thought. Although there is gender and racial diversity on display, Davey disrupts too few preconceived roles: The pilot looks like a White man, as do the scientist and the conductor; the boxer is a hulking Black man. The only Black character approaching a STEM trade is the “nerd” hunched over a laptop and carrying a bag of comic books.
More style than substance. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Nov. 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-3-89955-149-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Little Gestalten
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Smoother rides are out there.
Mommy and Bonnie—two anthropomorphic rodents—go for a joyride and notice a variety of conveyances around their busy town.
The pair encounter 22 types of vocational vehicles as they pass various sites, including a fire engine leaving a firehouse, a school bus approaching a school, and a tractor trailer delivering goods to a supermarket. Narrated in rhyming quatrains, the book describes the jobs that each wheeled machine does. The text uses simple vocabulary and sentences, with sight words aplenty. Some of the rhymes don't scan as well as others, and the description of the mail truck’s role ("A mail truck brings / letters and cards / to mailboxes / in people's yards) ignores millions of readers living in yardless dwellings. The colorful digitally illustrated spreads are crowded with animal characters of every type hustling and bustling about. Although the art is busy, observant viewers may find humor in details such as a fragile item falling out of a moving truck, a line of ducks holding up traffic, and a squirrel’s spilled ice cream. For younger children enthralled by vehicles, Sally Sutton’s Roadwork (2011) and Elizabeth Verdick’s Small Walt series provide superior text and art and kinder humor. Children who have little interest in cars, trucks, and construction equipment may find this offering a yawner. Despite being advertised as a beginner book, neither text nor art recommend this as an engaging choice for children starting to read independently. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Smoother rides are out there. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37725-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude.
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.
Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4569-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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