A snapshot of country life full of sounds and sentiment.
What can you hear on a farm?
The titular "cock-a-doodle-doo, creak, pop-pop, and moo," just to start. Crisp, clear lines rich in onomatopoeia describe a day from morning to night in this nostalgic paean to life on a farm, while stylized, retro watercolors provide a humorous look at the farm’s residents, both animal and human. From start (“Rooster crows, / Cock-a-doodle-doo. / Wake up, girls, / And little boys, too”) to finish (“Owl calls out / Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. / Goodnight, boys, / And little girls, too”), this agreeable selection delivers the sounds, look and atmosphere of an old-time farm. Young children will enjoy the strong rhymes and catchy beat, which beckon them to join in, and appreciate the introduction to some of the specifics of the world of a farm, including cooking, chores and the rhythm of nature. Sneed's characters, both animal and human, and backgrounds are rendered with curving, sometimes off-kilter lines, constantly evoking motion and complementing the rhythmic text. In composition and perspective, they echo the heroic murals of the Works Progress Administration. He fills the pages with details (a swallow feeds its babies at its nest under the eaves) and humor (a pig squints lazily up from its bed in the mud).
A snapshot of country life full of sounds and sentiment. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2356-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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