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UNDERGROUND TRAIN

Name: UNDERGROUND TRAIN
Author: Mary Quattlebaum
ISBN: 0-385-32204-6

by Mary Quattlebaum & illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1997

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Quattlebaum (The Magic Squad and the Dog of Great Potential, 1997, etc.) makes the subway a fairly exciting, thought-provoking place in a story about a girl and her mother traveling via the train to Nana's neighborhood: ``Down, down, down to the underground train, which rushes past like fast water.'' Once aboard, the girl scopes out the other passengers and watches ``the tunnel blurring by like a long, black night.'' The energy of the train is reflected in the bustle above-ground, where Smith shows swarms of tourists visiting the sights while locals go about their business—the elders rush around, youngsters jump rope and barrel down sidewalks on in-line skates. Quattlebaum and Smith convey both the strange magic of the subway—drop into the ground in one place, pop up in another—and the sense of urgency that informs the entire underground experience. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-385-32204-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
MIGHTY MOLE AND SUPER SOIL
by Mary Quattlebaum ; illustrated by Chad Wallace

- BOOK REVIEW
JO MACDONALD HIKED IN THE WOODS
by Mary Quattlebaum ; illustrated by Laura J. Bryant

- BOOK REVIEW
JO MACDONALD HAD A GARDEN
by Mary Quattlebaum & illustrated by Laura J. Bryant

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TINY LITTLE ROCKET

by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 31, 2018

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.

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This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.

Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 31, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LIONHEART
by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge

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TRASHY TOWN

by Andrea Zimmerman & David Clemesha ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1999

Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches...

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Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.

Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.

Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)