Cars and trucks and things don’t go so well here.
A little car’s fears are put to the ultimate test.
A bevy of beautiful new anthropomorphic cars eagerly board their respective transport trucks. But not Axle. He’s afraid. No-nonsense Earlene, Axle’s transport truck, manages to get him to the car dealership with everyone else, but next thing you know, he’s cowering on top of her, begging to go back to the factory. Undeterred, Earlene takes Axle into the flatlands, foothills, and mountains, where he gains confidence in his motoring skills. And when Earlene experiences a flat on the way back, Axle now has the courage to find help. While the book attempts to promote self-confidence, this message is muddled in its delivery. Just what is the book trying to say about fear? Axle’s are never named—Earlene just assumes he needs “practice” on the road—which makes conquering them all the more complicated. And while Earlene’s training montage is nice, is the book implying that a skill must be mastered before trying anything new? Later, when Axle smells “burning” late in the book, Earlene’s tire may be the reason, but this fact is never explained to young readers. Accompanying art is consistently colorful and upbeat if unimaginatively Cars-like, but it too indulges in oddities, like giving the top car at the assembly line a superfluous, luxurious mustache. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 48% of actual size.)
Cars and trucks and things don’t go so well here. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4022-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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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