Beautifully illustrated but disappointingly homogeneous. (Board book. 2-5)
It’s winter in Bustletown, and there’s so much to see.
Each two-page spread of this oversized, wordless board book features a different area of Bustletown, including the train station, a local farm, and downtown. The scenes depict characters of all ages, such as baby Francis, who is tucked into a stroller; elementary-age Lena and Lisa; and gray-haired Anne, who has missed the bus. The scenes often present cutaways of buildings, such that readers can see the activity inside, not to mention the various birds and animals climbing across roofs and trees. The illustrations are detailed without overwhelming preschoolers, and the clever repetition of key characters (identified on the back) on each set of pages allows readers to weave together multiple, simultaneous narratives as the book progresses. Although some of these characters are pictured with dark skin and dark hair, most of them appear to be white. One of the few exceptions, a South American named Pedro who finds Bustletown “pretty cold,” wears stereotypical dress and does little more than tote a guitar around town. Furthermore, the book exclusively features Western, Christian iconography, including a prominently placed town church, a Christmas tree displayed at the cultural center, and what appears to be a Christmas market downtown. The lack of diverse main characters and religious traditions flattens an otherwise interesting book.
Beautifully illustrated but disappointingly homogeneous. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-3-7913-7415-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Prestel
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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
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Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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