Wake Up Engines

July 1, 2007
PreS-Gr 1-In this follow-up to "Good Night Engines" (Clarion, 2003), a boy greets the new day with the help of his many rigs and vehicles. As he brushes his teeth, he imagines the street sweeper"City sweeper/rumble, hiss./Scrubbing brushes/SWISH!/SWISH!/SWISH!" The bright acrylic paints are appropriate for a story about waking up and the illustrations are satisfying to look at whether depicting the child or highlighting a vehicle at work."Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2007
A boy awakens one morning to the sound of engines revving. He runs his toy cars around a little track in his room; outside, cars leave their garages on his street and head for expressways. Next, he brushes his teeth, while outside, the sweeper truck brushes the street: Gutters glisten / shiny, clean. Whirring, purring / street machine. Inside, heloads his stuffed animals into a toy school bus; children board the real school bus. Throughout the morning, the boys play at home parallels the sights and sounds of cars, trucks, and planes in the larger world. The short, rhyming text reads aloud well, with just enough words to comment on the action and plenty of sounds for children to enjoy, from the RUMBLE! ROOOAR! of the school bus to the BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! of the garbage truck. Vivid acrylic paintings fill the double-page spreads with moving vehicles, effectively contrasting with domestic scenes of the child at play.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)