A catchy, cautionary tale.
Little toads should never play in the road!
A little toad carelessly squats in the middle of the road hungrily watching a fly buzz by. “Who’s that coming down the road? / Oh yikes! Oh yikes! / It’s a… // Bear on a bike! / Everyone shout: / Look out! Look out! // SKID! SCREECH! BAM!” Bear and bike end up in a ditch, and the bear yells at the little toad. What would its mama say? Unsurprisingly, the little toad does not listen, and soon along comes a top-hatted croc in a car…and there’s another crash. Both animals admonish the amphibian to no avail. Along comes a vole in a van (in the picture, it looks an awful lot like Jerry Garcia driving a VW microbus), and it too goes “BAM!” When, finally, along comes mother toad in a tow truck, readers hear “Hey, little love, get out of the way! / You could get hurt. That’s no place to play.” A musician as well as a writer and illustrator, Shaskan pens a tale that begs to be sung, and it’s likely audiences will soon pick up the tune. The call-and-response construction of the tale will lend itself well to performing for preschoolers. The bright, heavily lined, digitally created illustrations resemble block prints and feature smiling (or shouting) big-eyed animals in full-bleed, double-page spreads.
A catchy, cautionary tale. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-239347-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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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A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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