A glory ride for young car, truck, train, bus and trolley devotees.
In a visual feast for fans of wheeled vehicles large and small, Biggs presents a series of high-density street scenes done in an amiably rumpled cartoon style.
Driving in from the ’burbs to a generic metropolis, a lad and his dad gloss each big, double-page spread—“ ‘Do trucks work the same way as cars?’ / ‘Many of them do. Trucks also have jobs, like cars’ ”—as they glide through heavy traffic, past a construction site and under an elevated highway. They wait for fleets of bikes and motorcycles to pass and park at last near a train station to pick up Mom. Along with sparely labeled close-up or cutaway views of a car, a bicycle, a big truck, a subway station, an RV and other specimens, the author sets up the family reunion at the end with a giant double-gatefold aerial view of an entire neighborhood packed with traffic, pedestrians, local businesses and signs, each one individually distinct. Jokey side conversations (one firefighter tells another, "There's no fire. It's just a cat"; his companion asks, "Should we get some milk?") play off more serious and informative dialogue. A diagram of a car is accompanied by a disquisition on the relationship between a car battery and the motor, as well as the fact that "[a]n electric car uses batteries and electric motor. No gas!"
A glory ride for young car, truck, train, bus and trolley devotees. (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-195809-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
Wormell (Blue Rabbit and the Runaway Wheel, see above) seamlessly blends landscape and playscape in this tale of a wonderfully catastrophic train wreck. As if it’s not bad enough that blubbery Mrs. Walrus, Mr. Bear, and Mrs. Elephant forcibly wedge themselves into the train’s tiny cars for a shopping trip into town, on their return they’re carrying 600 sardines, 15 loaves of bread, pots of honey, and a mountain of fresh fruit. “ ‘It’s just a matter of balance,’ ” Mrs. Elephant cheerfully assures the worried conductor. Indeed it is—until a bee crawls up Mrs. Elephant’s trunk, prompting a monumental sneeze. Groceries are scattered everywhere. What to do? Invite everyone to a picnic! Rather than his usual polychrome woodcuts, Wormell creates soft-edged, colored-pencil drawings here for a “younger,” softer look, depicting a simply carved wooden train sturdily pulling three hilariously overloaded cars. Afterward, willing trunks and flippers reset the tumbled cars onto their tracks, and off the train chugs, leaving the bloated picnickers strewn about like beached whales. Ending on a peaceful, satiated note, this explosive episode makes a first-rate entry in the annals of picture-book sneezes. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83986-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Required reading for both plane-iacs and any first-time flier.
For young fans of things with wings, another oversized visual riot from the creator of Everything Goes: On Land (2011).
Following a departing family as it wends its way through a teeming airport, Biggs doesn’t just confine himself to winged aircraft—covering instead the entire history of flight from the Wright Brothers on. Topical spreads are filled edge to edge with early airplanes, modern working planes of various designs, helicopters, gliders, blimps and balloons. Knowing just how much visual busyness to pack into each bright cartoon scene without turning it into a confusing jumble, he also offers alternate spreads a-bustle with activity. Passengers wheel luggage through a concourse, undress to various degrees at a security station (“NOPE” flashes the red sign over the gate as a peg-legged pirate tries to pass), board a jetliner (later seen in a cutaway view) and taxi out to the runway for a climactic double-gatefold takeoff. Along with identifying labels, viewers inclined to take closer looks will be rewarded by the sight of five rug rats leading a harried mom on a merry chase, birds with or without jaunty hats, at least one personal cameo of the artist and other diversions.
Required reading for both plane-iacs and any first-time flier. (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-195810-6
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
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