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MOTOR GOOSE

Name: MOTOR GOOSE
Author: Rebecca Colby
ISBN: 978-1-250-10193-8

by Rebecca Colby ; illustrated by Jef Kaminsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2017

A partial misfire.

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Mother Goose gets a mechanical makeover in this gear-inspired nursery-rhyme collection.

Twenty-three familiar rhymes are rewritten with a wide range of vehicles in mind. As nursery rhymes are such a flexible form, they easily lend themselves to Colby’s motorized reimaginings. Whether it’s “Little Miss Mixer,” “This Little Steam Train,” or “Bumpty Dumpty” (about a dump truck, naturally), caregivers should have no difficulty singing, chanting, or rhythmically reading the verses on display. Each scans perfectly, never requiring readers to engage in any verbal gymnastics. There are even helpful hints for caregivers below each poem’s title, indicating its original name (“Little Jack Junker” references “Little Jack Horner,” for instance). While most of the poems in this collection pass muster, the same cannot be said for Kaminsky’s digital art. His cartoony anthropomorphic vehicles are rendered with little sophistication in their depictions and as much attention to scale. The media notes tell readers outlines were drawn with a digital piece of soft vine charcoal, but the inconsistency in their thickness between the vehicles and animals depicted gives the compositions a cut-and-paste quality. The result is a book with aural but not visual charm.

A partial misfire. (Picture book. 2-5)

Pub Date: July 11, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-250-10193-8

Page Count: 34

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION | CHILDREN'S POETRY

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CROCODILES NEED KISSES TOO
by Rebecca Colby ; illustrated by Penelope Dullaghan

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CAPTAIN BLING'S CHRISTMAS PLUNDER
by Rebecca Colby ; illustrated by Rob McClurkan

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IT'S RAINING BATS & FROGS
by Rebecca Colby ; illustrated by Steven Henry

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BUSY STREET

From the Beginner Books series

by Edward Miller ; illustrated by Edward Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 4, 2022

Smoother rides are out there.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
GRAPHS!
by David A. Adler ; illustrated by Edward Miller

- BOOK REVIEW
HOW TO HAUNT A HOUSE
by Carolyn Crimi ; illustrated by Edward Miller

- BOOK REVIEW
ARE YOU MY PLANET?
by Lori Haskins Houran ; illustrated by Edward Miller

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HERE COME THE HELPERS

by Leslie Kimmelman ; illustrated by Barbara Bakos ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2018

The lack of real excitement will make these helpers fade from memory like sirens on a distant road.

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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)