Watching a bunch of trucks at work. Life doesn’t get much better. And these guys talk to you.
A jaunty tour through an urban construction site extends the best-selling picture book's audience to young app users.
The scene is a building site. The characters are Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Bulldozer, Excavator and Dump Truck (all proper names, by the way). They toil all day, and via the touch screen, each element on the screen is identified: the vehicles, the construction site, the building under construction. The identifying words range from simple—puddle, rock—to the more challenging: spigot, hook block, heap, concrete. After the day’s work is done, the vehicles take a well-earned rest, set to couplets: “Turn off your engines, stop your tracks, / Relax your wheels, your stacks, and backs.” The Crane Truck holds a teddy in its bumper, the Cement Truck has a security blanket, and the rest of the vehicles are tucked into the dirt. It’s a pretty cozy scene, drawn with what feels like the side edge of a colored-pencil’s lead and animated with admirable restraint. With its surprising but manageable complexity, identifiable characters and pleasingly chaotic construction site, this is one of those deceiving apps that will exceed expectations, delivering the entertainment goods each time. Adding to the merriment is the plinking piano and xylophonelike soundtrack.
Watching a bunch of trucks at work. Life doesn’t get much better. And these guys talk to you. (iPad storybook app. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Oceanhouse Media
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property.
Since a reformed Grinch is hardly any fun, this follow-up Grinches him up once more.
Those seeking more of the same, prepare to receive precisely that. Christmas is coming (again!), and the Grinch can hardly wait. He’s been patient all year, and now he can finally show the Whos down in Who-ville how much he’s changed. When the Grinch learns of a tree-decorating contest, he figures that if he wins, it’ll prove he truly has the Christmas spirit. He throws himself into the task, but when it comes time to judge the trees, the Grinch is horrified to discover that he’s received only the second-place trophy. Can Cindy-Lou Who find the words to save the day? Replicating many of the original beats and wordplay of the original, this tale feels like less a sequel and more like a vaguely rewritten variation. Meanwhile, Ruiz’s art seeks to bridge the gap between the animated Chuck Jones version of the Grinch and the one depicted in the original book. This thankless task results in a strange uncanny valley between Seuss and Jones but does allow the artist a chance to colorize everything and lend some racial diversity to the Who population (Cindy-Lou is light-skinned). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593563168
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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