Simple but jaunty storytelling with a valuable character message for young readers.
An old school bus proves its worth when kids get stranded during a winter storm.
Cooper's illustrated children's book offers a key takeaway for young readers: Look beyond appearances; what’s inside is much more important. In this upbeat story, an overworked, status-conscious mayor appoints a popular elementary teacher to the position of superintendent of schools. As long as the teacher can still visit his students, he’s happy to do the job—in fact, he finds everything “super,” even the fleet of school buses that is now his responsibility. But the mayor demands that one of the buses be sent to the scrap heap because “it doesn’t look new and modern. The other buses are much fancier.” The new superintendent and a female bus driver named Driver Dani fix up the derelict vehicle instead and name it Super Bus: “By the time the cold weather came, the bus was in perfect shape. The powerful engine hummed, and the bus was clean and shiny, inside and out.” During a winter storm, the mayor realizes that his order to “get rid of that monstrosity” was disobeyed when icy roads keep the “fancier” buses from reaching kids stranded at their Hilltop School. It’s Super Bus to the rescue, delivering all the students “safely to their homes.” The appealing hero teaches the mayor (and the audience) a helpful lesson about judging buses—and people—by their appearances. At the end of the lively and enjoyable book, the author invites readers to go back and see if they can find the more than 60 school buses that are scattered throughout Lock’s colorful, cartoon-style images with a delightfully diverse human cast.
Simple but jaunty storytelling with a valuable character message for young readers.Pub Date: July 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-948747-01-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: J2B Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
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