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JOE-JOE’S FIRST FLIGHT

Name: JOE-JOE’S FIRST FLIGHT
Author: Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
ISBN: 0-375-81053-6

by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley & illustrated by E.B. Lewis ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 10, 2003

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Beautiful watercolor illustrations highlight a touching account of African-American airport workers’ aspirations. The chatty first-person narrative is from Joe-Joe’s point of view—his father works at the airport. Joe-Joe, his father, and the other men hope for a chance to fly, but “the man” says, “In due time,” and that time never seems to come. The story takes off when Joe-Joe falls asleep in a cockpit and dreams that he flies up to capture the moon and bring back hope to Blind Eye. His joyful expression as he approaches an enormous, bright moon provides a striking contrast to the resigned, dusty look of the scenes on the ground. Realistically, Joe-Joe can’t do anything to further the men’s ambitions, but current readers with the perspective of history will know that Joe-Joe himself may be able to fly by the time he grows up. An author’s note discusses African-Americans in aviation. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: June 10, 2003

ISBN: 0-375-81053-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2003

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

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KEYANA LOVES HER FRIEND
by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley ; illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

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KEYANA LOVES HER FAMILY
by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley ; illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ME I CHOOSE TO BE
by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley ; illustrated by Regis Bethencourt & Kahran Bethencourt

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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)