Watching a bunch of trucks at work. Life doesn’t get much better. And these guys talk to you.
A jaunty tour through an urban construction site extends the best-selling picture book's audience to young app users.
The scene is a building site. The characters are Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Bulldozer, Excavator and Dump Truck (all proper names, by the way). They toil all day, and via the touch screen, each element on the screen is identified: the vehicles, the construction site, the building under construction. The identifying words range from simple—puddle, rock—to the more challenging: spigot, hook block, heap, concrete. After the day’s work is done, the vehicles take a well-earned rest, set to couplets: “Turn off your engines, stop your tracks, / Relax your wheels, your stacks, and backs.” The Crane Truck holds a teddy in its bumper, the Cement Truck has a security blanket, and the rest of the vehicles are tucked into the dirt. It’s a pretty cozy scene, drawn with what feels like the side edge of a colored-pencil’s lead and animated with admirable restraint. With its surprising but manageable complexity, identifiable characters and pleasingly chaotic construction site, this is one of those deceiving apps that will exceed expectations, delivering the entertainment goods each time. Adding to the merriment is the plinking piano and xylophonelike soundtrack.
Watching a bunch of trucks at work. Life doesn’t get much better. And these guys talk to you. (iPad storybook app. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Oceanhouse Media
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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