A warmly inclusive addition to the things-that-go genre.
A paean to air-traffic controllers, bus mechanics, subway signal maintainers, and the other support personnel who ensure that transportation systems work.
Snappy rhyming verse introduces the question: “Who guides floating fleets with ease / and water-travel expertise? / Who checks weather, minds the clocks, / brings the ferry in to docks?” A car ferry, yacht, fishing boat, container ship, and more—even a green submarine with yellow polka dots—crowd the waters in a representative double-page spread. With the turn of the page, readers see the answer, rendered in jaunty, blocky lettering: “IT’S NOT JUST THE CAPTAIN!” The verse continues, detailing the work of the land-based dispatchers, who sit in an office on the wharf labeled “Harbormaster” as the ferry pulls in to its berth. Support crews for buses, trucks, subways, trains, and planes are also introduced, with Neubecker’s characteristically busy cartoons depicting happy passengers and workers of many different racial and gender presentations; one, a harbormaster, uses a wheelchair. The verse rollicks along as smoothly as these varied vehicles move, carrying readers through concise descriptions of jobs and roles they may never have considered, until they reach the final, exuberant line: “TEAMWORK HELPS THE WORLD TO MOVE!” Picture-book shelves are groaning with celebrations of transportation, but this one stands out in its salutary commitment to shining a spotlight on support teams.
A warmly inclusive addition to the things-that-go genre. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936378
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do.
Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from “Cement Mixer”: “No time to wait; / he can’t sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden.” Slonim’s trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures—Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in “Bulldozer”: “He’s not a bully, either, / although he’s big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough.” A few trucks’ jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: “Skid-Steer Loader” focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but “Semi” runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing.
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5078-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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