Review by New York Times Review
THEY HUFF, THEY ROAR, they CLANK, they MOVE! Size, strength and speed, embodied! No wonder we are most fascinated by vehicles when we ourselves are at our youngest, smallest and least independent. No wonder, too, that there have been picture books about moving machines for about as long as either has been around. (See "Cousin Chatterbox's Railway Alphabet" from the 1840s for an early example: "U is the urchin, so simple and small, / who cannot make out how the train goes at all.") New arrivals in this long tradition drive, float and fly onto shelves each publishing season. A kicking of tires follows for some of the latest. As always, your mileage may vary. KATE PRENDERGAST SETS DOG ON A DIGGER (Candlewick, 32 pp. $16.99; ages 3 to 6) on an industrial lot, drawn without sentimentality; the eye wanders over pavement, warehouses, a concrete canal and a parked excavator with a clamshell bucket - a digger. Nestled within is a small trailer camper, the cozy home of both a dog and that digger's operator. We follow them in this wordless, paneled story as they begin their day's work. Young readers won't fail to notice a small eye on the excavator's jaw-like bucket, which gives it an apatosaurian air. If the digger doesn't quite have a will of its own, it does still seem to enjoy its work. Prendergast works in pencil, in soft shades of gray, and then adds two colors: yellow, for the digger itself and for the safety gear worn by both man and dog, and blue, for the dress worn by a young woman who runs a snack stand on this lot. She has a small dog of her own. There's something more than hamburgers and hot dogs between the two humans, to judge by how they look into each other's eyes - but then the woman's dog goes missing, ft's our title dog who spots the pup clinging to a branch over the canal, and who thinks of using the excavator's long boom to reach the pup, all communicated through the time-honored techniques of judicious pointing, barking and pawing. The book ends with something like a family portrait in yellow and blue: man, woman, excavator and two dogs, rescuer and rescued. Well, it's a curious mix: a gloomy setting, an almost-dinosaur digger, a dash of romance, a touch of peril and a quick-thinking dog. Prendergast's figures can be a bit wonky, too; at times they squish and stretch to fit their frames. Still, there's a tenderness to the drawings, and one picks up Prendergast's affection for her characters and even for that setting, which in its grimness lends an unexpected sort of credibility to the story. Add Prendergast's convincing sense of how to keep the action moving from one panel to the next, and the young friends with whom 1 shared this book didn't stop to wonder if the elements added up; they wanted to know what would happen next, and they turned the pages to find out. SMALL WALT AND MO THE TOW (Paula Wiseman/ Simon & Schuster, 40 pp., $17.99; ages 4 to 8), from Elizabeth Verdick and Marc Rosenthal, is the follow-up to (yes) "Small Walt," in which snowplow Walt, with driver Gus, earns a spot alongside the big plows, despite doubts about Walt's size. In this outing, Walt and Gus, making their rounds, see a car skid into a snow-filled ditch. Can they help? Despite his can-do spirit, Walt must now learn to deal with his limitations : "My plow is tough, / but it's not enough." The, from over the horizon, appears Mo the Tow, driven by "the lady in blue - Sue." (Are women in blue a trend?) Mo and Sue are the pair with the hardware and skills to perform this rescue - except it turns out they can't quite reach the stranded car; first they'll need some snow cleared. Are Walt and Gus up to it? No spoliers. Suffice to say all these characters have something useful they like to do and that they do well, and each has limits, too, making this a story about teamwork as well as pluck. Verdick and Rosenthal may not be clearing new ground with these lessons, but what they plow, they plow well. The characters are appealing, and the language is active and satisfying, with plenty of onomatopoeia. Good luck saying RUGGAROOOM BRUMMAHUM10 times fast, but your audience will enjoy hearing you try. The flap copy tells us that "Small Walt" has been called "reminiscent of Virginia Burton's classics," and this book will be, too; the cover design practically dares you not to think of "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel." Rosenthal's drawings feel like a contemporary take on Burton's spirit, though, rather than something derivative: Burton, after an espresso. The lines and colors are direct, cheerful and effective. They look like the work of someone in a good mood, and it put me in a good mood to look at them. J. M. BRUM AND JAN BAJTLIK'S OUR CAR (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, 32 pp., $16.99; ages 2 to 6) introduces a father, a son and the little red car they love. The drawings are digital, done in bold colors and simple shapes. (1 might have guessed pastel, had one image not been recolored and reused multiple times on the title page and opening spread.) Father, the driver, and son, the passenger, are presences more than characters, just enough there to help us project ourselves into the book. "Our Car" has little interest in the actual mechanics of automobiles, yet it cuts, joyfully, straight to the things that thrill about cars; the book is a distilled dose of speed and color. The troubles that come with cars are here, too. When its engine needs work, this car "screeches like a wild animal," and teeth, eyes and even plodding feet appear, mysterious and terrific. While their car is in the shop, father and son must resort to the bus. No apologies for public transportation are made! Straphangers scowl, armpits loom too close to heads, and what is that fellow in the back doing with his finger so close to his nose? Why are things we hope to avoid on a bus such fun to see in drawings of one? When the car is home again, father and son wash it with the affection you elsewhere see lavished on golden retrievers. Then the book takes a leap: "Today 1 get to drive." Dad is no longer at the wheel - the boy is! And off he zooms! Alas, on the next page we see he was not really driving, but only on the living room furniture, pretending. Mom (heretofore unmentioned, and still unseen) is given the thankless role of asking him not to park on the rug. I've yet to be made happy by reaching the end of a story and finding one of these "it was all a dream" endings waiting. We decide to enter a sort of dream already when we enter the world of a book; it is not necessary to wake up twice at the end. Buy this book, and paste down that last page. Let the kid drive! BRIAN floca is the author and illustrator of many books for children, including "Locomotive," which won a Caldecott Medal.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [July 11, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
Muted realistic pencil drawings in yellow, blue, and gray tell this wordless story of a dog's exciting day. After waking his owner, a construction worker, the pair climb aboard a big yellow excavator and go to work cleaning up trash. What's next? The two have lunch. The dog shares its bowl with the snack lady's fluffy puppy. Yellow squiggles alert the dog that the adorable puppy, woofing loudly, has fallen onto a tree above a water-filled trench. The construction worker can't quite reach the whining little one. Now it's time for the big digger to come to the rescue! The brave canine rides down in the bucket and rescues the pup, grabbing him with gentle jaws. The two pooches and the snack lady ride back up together in the bucket, and the final picture suggests the dog's job is a puppy watcher. Meanwhile, romance is blooming between the two humans. Done with a variety of panels and full-page spreads, the story encompasses a hero's journey with adventure, a wise mentor, romance, and a happy homecoming. All cleverly told without a single word!--Gepson, Lolly Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this debut, British artist Prendergast's pencil drawings don't jump out at viewers; they're shaded in a midrange of grays with bolder yellow tints. Yet her wordless story rewards close inspection. A shorthaired dog lives in a trailer with its owner on a construction site. The first panels establish intimacy between the two as the dog leaps into the owner's bed to wake him. The owner, who operates a digger, climbs into the cabin, and the dog hops up next to him. After a morning's work, the site's canteen worker introduces her small pup to the operator and his dog. While the humans talk, the pup runs off, and the operator's dog soon alerts them to trouble: the pup is trapped out of the humans' reach. The dog gives the operator the idea of using the digger to rescue the terrified pup, and dramatic spreads follow the successful rescue. The circumstances are just plausible enough to be intriguing, and Prendergast adds further realism to her story by portraying the operator and his dog with naturalistic, expressive detail. The story, with its satisfying, almost documentary feel, might become a bedtime favorite. Ages 4-6. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In this wordless picture book, there is canine drama and suspense on the construction site. A mixture of panels and full-page illustrations relay the action, beginning with the early morning routine of an amiable white dog and his human companion. Donning yellow safety vests, man and dog climb into the cab of an excavator and get to work hauling, digging and lifting. At break time, they have a snack and enjoy the company of the convenience stand owner and her little shaggy pup. When the puppy suddenly goes missing and becomes trapped over a canal, the older dog -heroically springs into action, alerting the humans and figuring out a clever rescue plan. Realistic pencil illustrations alternate between close-up scenes that capture the nuanced body language of the animals, and panoramic views of the entire construction site. The black-and-white pages are enlivened with splashes of sunny yellow that accent the big rigs and hard hats and also signify the urgent barks of distress. VERDICT This compelling, detailed story will invite and inspire close inspection and lively storytelling.-Linda Ludke, -London Public Library, Ont. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In this wordless story told via pencil drawings with yellow and blue accents, a dog joins its owner at work at a construction site. When a coworker's pup gets stuck in a hard-to-reach spot, canine cunning and digger dexterity save the day. This book is a perfect next step for fans of Alexandra Day's books about another good dog. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A little white dog and its human friend use their excavator to rescue a puppy in this endearing wordless picture book.Clad in matching yellow safety vests, a dog and a human live and work together on a construction site, and their specialty is the excavator. After running the equipment all morning, the pair heads to the snack stand to have lunch with the young woman of color who runs it and her puppy. While the humans chat, the little white dog is keeping an eye on the site when cries of distress arise from a drain grate, where the puppy has become trapped. When the dog and its human are unable to reach the frightened pup on their own, the little dog suggests (with a tug on the vest) using the excavator grab to save the day. Prendergast's pencil-sketch illustrations are full of movement and fine detail, using broad panel layout to show multiple angles of perspective and to reveal the full narrative impact of each scene. Even the dogs' vocalizations are wordless, represented by jagged yellow lines that deftly convey urgency. The mostly gray palette is broken up by the assured deployment of bright yellow and blue to draw focus and highlight emotional tension, though the bright-on-bright of light gray and yellow in some of the panels may prove difficult for readers with low contrast sensitivity. The excavator operator has pale skin.A lively visual tale of friendship and braverycharming. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
