Munro presents fans of her previous maze challenges new fodder to delight and intrigue. From A (airport) to Z (zookeeper), Munro’s fantastical paintings provide an abundance of detail to entrance and enchant even the most jaded maze-whiz. The 26 letters of the alphabet form the base of each maze, which is based on a theme beginning with the same letter. On each page, she adds a list of items to look for while wiggling through the mazes. Munro’s paintings are just plain fun to look at even if the reader is not a fan of mazes and brain teasers. However, for enthusiasts, Munro offers challenges galore, and for those who are stumped, an answer key is provided in the endpages. The author’s latest tale is a satisfying follow-up to Amazement Park (2005) for fans and bound to attract newcomers as well. (Picture book. 7-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4027-3774-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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Readers learn how to “Reuse, Recycle, Reinvent” what some might call trash into treasures.
Rhyming poems each introduce a single way to reuse/reinvent something: A toilet becomes a planter, the titular shoe morphs into a birdhouse, a (very large, nonstandard) light bulb houses a fish, and favorite jeans that are holey? They become a new purse. The most creative has to be a table supported by a pitchfork: “If you’re wanting to picnic on uneven ground, / where your table’s unstable or up on a mound, / stop and think! Be creative! The answer’s around.” While cans, wood and wire are both easily found and transformed into musical instruments, not all these projects use such common materials or are as simple to complete: Half of a boat turns into a covered bench, a car becomes a bed, and a grocery cart transforms into a chair. And although it’s neat to see a farmer’s new watering trough (an enormous tire) and a community’s new playground (an old ambulance anchors it), these are not projects that are likely to fire readers up to do similar things. Cartoon spot illustrations share space with photographs of the new inventions, and both are needed to make sense of the poems.
This may spark a few imaginations, but its lack of directions and the difficulty level of most of the projects—not to mention its failure to impart reasons for reducing, reusing and recycling—make this one to skip. (Poetry. 7-10)Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55451-642-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A train load of wild and wacky animals gets so noisy that the engineer has to shout to get them to quiet down. The little black train picks up yaks, acrobats, a troupe of ducks, and stomping elephants as passengers. But when two mice that are in to fireworks climb aboard, the engineer threatens to stop the whole train. “ ‘Keep it down!’ yells Driver Zach. ‘You’re giving me a headache attack!’ “ Everyone quickly hushes up, and soon, “the only sound you hear, in fact,/is the sound of the wheels on the railroad track. Clickety clack, clickety clack.” The words bounce along to the rhythm of a train on its way, and the swell of the sound effects makes this a joy to read aloud. Spengler’s robust illustrations capture an antic cast of passengers, conveying the action as much through composition as color. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-87946-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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