Jimmy Novak's daredevil prank coincides with a towboat accident on the Mississippi that almost claims his father's life—in a suspense-filled story that should make readers ponder the value of the macho image. "Thonker" was the affectionate nickname that the surgeon who treated Jimmy's knee injury gave his young patients; Jimmy and two of his friends adopt it for their exclusive club, vying with one another as stoical survivors of whatever major or minor pain they encounter—or inflict. When Jimmy's cousin David comes to stay while his widowed mother has heart surgery, they callously exclude him—he's not only younger, but unforgivably wimpy. The three older boys engage in a stunt involving a railroad drawbridge, and are sobered by the danger they finally comprehend after escaping intact; coming home, Jimmy learns that his father is missing—and during the harrowing night that follows, he comes to understand the courage that David has shown during the uncertainty about his mother. Like Bauer's On My Honor, Thonkers makes compellingly real the tragedy that can result from youthful recklessness. Naylor's thoughtless boys are well-drawn, normal kids from warmly loving blue-collar families; Jimmy's Mom—whether wisely waiting for him to make his own peace with David or cleaning cupboards at one a.m. while she waits for news of her husband—is only one of the sharply sketched adult characters. It may take a booktalk to get fifth graders past the title here, but they'll love the book.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1988
ISBN: 044040407X
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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