When it comes to doing heavy lifting, you can count on this tale.
Let’s hear it for Crane Jane!
While listening to this book, the second in the Big Jobs, Bold Women series, following Firefighter Flo! (2022), readers will hear cacophonous noises in Jane’s wake given all the rhythmic, onomatopoeic sounds accompanying her efforts as a crane operator at the dock. Jaunty, terse rhymed couplets describe Jane’s hectic, exciting workday as she expertly maneuvers her crane to lift, move, and set down heavy cargo—freight containers and trucks—on and off ships. What a joyful din (“TROMP! TROMP!” "CLANG-CLANG!” “WHOOSH! WHOOSH!”) her job produces. The sound words generally appear in pairs or trios and are usually set in yellow boldfaced capitals so they stand out, and construction-site and vehicle mavens will be eager to simulate them. Children will be especially intrigued by a scene in which a firetruck, lifted from a ship and caught in a heavy wind, dangles precariously from the crane and is improbably saved by a flock of helpful gulls. The digital illustrations feature bold, eye-popping colors and lots of detailed activity. It’s great that kids see a woman, especially a woman of color, carry out her job so skillfully and effortlessly in a predominantly male-dominated profession. Jane has light brown skin and dark braids beneath her pale-green hard hat. Her co-workers and crew are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
When it comes to doing heavy lifting, you can count on this tale. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780823451586
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do.
Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from “Cement Mixer”: “No time to wait; / he can’t sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden.” Slonim’s trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures—Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in “Bulldozer”: “He’s not a bully, either, / although he’s big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough.” A few trucks’ jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: “Skid-Steer Loader” focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but “Semi” runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing.
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5078-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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