A (mostly) playful discovery of the awesome qualities that children can notice in themselves and others.
Funny, kind, brave…this book’s message to kids is that they can be anything.
Each spread shows a child doing something they enjoy, such as making someone laugh, creating a work of art, or helping with chores. The words “You can be…” are at the top of each page in a section of solid-color border that frames the cartoon-style double-page illustration. Each image features a child embodying the adjective they accompany, which is printed in bold, all-capital black type within the illustrated frame. A white child with glasses reads in a caregiver’s lap; the text reads: “You can be…CLEVER.” A black child with a determined grin and puffy pigtails pulls a younger child in a wagon; the text reads: “You can be…STRONG.” This predictable pattern along with the emphatic lines and bold colors will appeal to toddlers and even babies. This is a great read-aloud for talking about personality, temperament, and emotions, but as only positive qualities and attributes are shared, it’s not a full exploration of the emotional-literacy spectrum. The pairing of intellectual attainment with white children who wear glasses plays into stereotypes. In a disappointing tableau, one of these children is depicted in the foreground, with tidy hair and a bow tie, listening attentively as an adult reads aloud while two other children in the background, one a child of color, display preschooler-appropriate wiggles.
A (mostly) playful discovery of the awesome qualities that children can notice in themselves and others. (Picture book. 1-4)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-20218-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires.
Little Blue Truck feels, well, blue when he delivers valentine after valentine but receives nary a one.
His bed overflowing with cards, Blue sets out to deliver a yellow card with purple polka dots and a shiny purple heart to Hen, one with a shiny fuchsia heart to Pig, a big, shiny, red heart-shaped card to Horse, and so on. With each delivery there is an exchange of Beeps from Blue and the appropriate animal sounds from his friends, Blue’s Beeps always set in blue and the animal’s vocalization in a color that matches the card it receives. But as Blue heads home, his deliveries complete, his headlight eyes are sad and his front bumper droops ever so slightly. Blue is therefore surprised (but readers may not be) when he pulls into his garage to be greeted by all his friends with a shiny blue valentine just for him. In this, Blue’s seventh outing, it’s not just the sturdy protagonist that seems to be wilting. Schertle’s verse, usually reliable, stumbles more than once; stanzas such as “But Valentine’s Day / didn’t seem much fun / when he didn’t get cards / from anyone” will cause hitches during read-alouds. The illustrations, done by Joseph in the style of original series collaborator Jill McElmurry, are pleasant enough, but his compositions often feel stiff and forced.
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-27244-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wonderful, indeed
A love song to baby with delightful illustrations to boot.
Sweet but not saccharine and singsong but not forced, Martin’s text is one that will invite rereadings as it affirms parental wishes for children while admirably keeping child readers at its heart. The lines that read “This is the first time / There’s ever been you, / So I wonder what wonderful things / You will do” capture the essence of the picture book and are accompanied by a diverse group of babies and toddlers clad in downright adorable outfits. Other spreads include older kids, too, and pictures expand on the open text to visually interpret the myriad possibilities and hopes for the depicted children. For example, a spread reading “Will you learn how to fly / To find the best view?” shows a bespectacled, school-aged girl on a swing soaring through an empty white background. This is just one spread in which Martin’s fearless embrace of the white of the page serves her well. Throughout the book, she maintains a keen balance of layout choices, and surprising details—zebras on the wallpaper behind a father cradling his child, a rock-’n’-roll band of mice paralleling the children’s own band called “The Missing Teeth”—add visual interest and gentle humor. An ideal title for the baby-shower gift bag and for any nursery bookshelf or lap-sit storytime.
Wonderful, indeed . (Picture book. 1-4)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37671-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
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