Fans of this duo will happily follow them through another season.
Scooper and Dumper are back, this time trading wintry weather for fall pumpkin hauling.
The town is preparing for the pumpkin parade, but one very important part is missing—the pumpkins. Scooper, a front loader, and Dumper, a truck, get a call from Maybelle (a green pickup truck) at the farm. It’s time to go to the patch and pile up some pumpkins to bring back. Maybelle and Dumper fill their beds (while Scooper fills her front bucket) and drive back slow and steady. But a sharp stop causes Maybelle’s hatch to open and sends the pumpkins flying. The trucks are surrounded by darkening skies and spooky cornfields; they need to get back in time for the parade. How can they find all the missing pumpkins? Their repeated cheer—“Work together, / can’t be beat!”—lifts their spirits as they join forces to find a solution. The narrative is tinged with worry and suspense—whooshing wind and eerie sounds—but the sunny resolution whisks all those fears away. The bouncy rhyme skips merrily along (perhaps that’s what gives those errant pumpkins an extra push…and why they roll so far away), and the art is dominated by fall oranges, rusty reds, and cornfield yellows.
Fans of this duo will happily follow them through another season. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781662513831
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
A steady paean to time’s passing and the pleasures found along the way.
A front-seat view of a school bus’s long and varied life.
Deftly invoking the anthropomorphized objects in books of old (as in the works of Virginia Lee Burton), Long introduces readers to a small town and the yellow bus that serves it. Using charcoal and graphite, the author/artist portrays a mostly black-and-white world; he relies on colorful acrylics to depict those who enter the bus (who's described with female pronouns), including children ferried to school. Time goes on, and the bus is repurposed to take the elderly around town. Later, she’s abandoned near an overpass but finds a new role sheltering unhoused people. Finally, she’s taken to a farm, where she becomes a playground for goats. With each iteration, we hear the sounds of her passengers, human and otherwise, and the repeated phrase “And they filled her with joy.” At long last a damming project leaves her underwater, but fish find a home in the bus and make her happy. A final view of the town displays a single wavery point of yellow visible beneath the water. Backmatter explains both Long’s inspiration and the model town he made as a visual aid. Though this is a tale of decay over time, the book’s gentle narration, fun sound effects, and empathy grant the old vehicle dignity in her deconstruction. Characters are diverse.
A steady paean to time’s passing and the pleasures found along the way. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2024
ISBN: 9781250903136
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their...
Less ambitious than Chris Gall’s widely known Dinotrux (2009) and sequels, this British import systematically relegates each dinosaur/construction-equipment hybrid to its most logical job.
The title figures are introduced as bigger than both diggers and dinosaurs, and rhyming text and two construction-helmeted kids show just what these creatures are capable of. Each diggersaur has a specific job to do and a distinct sound effect. The dozersaurus moves rocks with a “SCRAAAAPE!!!” while the rollersaurus flattens lumps with a cheery “TOOT TOOT!!” Each diggersaur is numbered, with 12 in all, allowing this to be a counting book on the sly. As the diggersaurs (not all of which dig) perform jobs that regular construction equipment can do, albeit on a larger scale, there is no particular reason why any of them should have dinosaurlike looks other than just ’cause. Peppy computer art tries valiantly to attract attention away from the singularly unoriginal text. “Diggersaurs dig with bites so BIG, / each SCOOP creates a crater. // They’re TOUGH and STRONG / with necks so long— / they’re super EXCAVATORS!” Far more interesting are the two human characters, a white girl and a black boy, that flit about the pictures offering commentary and action. Much of the fun of the book can be found in trying to spot them on every two-page spread.
Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their dino/construction kicks. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-4779-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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