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AND THE TRAIN GOES...

Name: AND THE TRAIN GOES...
Author: William Bee
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3248-9

by William Bee & illustrated by William Bee ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2007

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“Here is the station all noisy and full, / and the station clock goes, ‘Tick-tock, tickerty-tock . . . ’/ and the man in the station office cries, ‘Hurry up! Hurry up! Any more tickets . . . ?’ ” So begins this charming chronicle of the cacophonous morning departure of an old-fashioned, presumably British train. Fun-to-read-aloud sound effects from engines (“Chuff-chuff, chufferty-chuff”), passengers (“Lovely cake, Doris. Lovely tea, Mabel . . . ”) and even chickens keep the linear story chugging along to its finale, when a caged parrot mimics the train’s sounds and the passengers’ prattle in a lively, rhythmic song. The color-soaked illustrations, in “pen, ink and Macintosh,” are wonderfully whimsical depictions of frivolously curlicued railway stations of yesteryear, ornate trains and eccentric passengers, from bespectacled, broom-bearing soldiers to purple-suited businessmen eating boiled eggs. Recurring elements such as a teapot and a few snails reward young readers who take the time to look closely. A fresh, visually arresting read-aloud with a lovely old-time feel. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: May 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-7636-3248-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
STANLEY'S LIBRARY
by William Bee ; illustrated by William Bee

- BOOK REVIEW
STANLEY'S LUNCH BOX
by William Bee ; illustrated by William Bee

- BOOK REVIEW
STANLEY'S FIRE ENGINE
by William Bee ; illustrated by William Bee

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TEN LITTLE FISH

by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Bruce Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2004

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This charming, colorful counting tale of ten little fish runs full-circle. Although the light verse opens and closes with ten fish swimming in a line, page-by-page the line grows shorter as the number of fish diminishes one-by-one. One fish dives down, one gets lost, one hides, and another takes a nap until a single fish remains. Then along comes another fish to form a couple and suddenly a new family of little fish emerges to begin all over. Slick, digitally-created images of brilliant marine flora and fauna give an illusion of underwater depth and silence enhancing the verse’s numerical and theatrical progression. The holistic story bubbles with life’s endless cycle. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-439-63569-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FULL MOON AT THE NAPPING HOUSE
by Audrey Wood ; illustrated by Don Wood

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BIRTHDAY QUEEN
by Audrey Wood ; illustrated by Don Wood

- BOOK REVIEW
IT'S DUFFY TIME!
by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Don Wood

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HAPPY EASTER FROM THE CRAYONS

by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023

Let these crayons go back into their box.

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The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.

Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)