Zoom! Zoom!

December 9, 2013
“Wake up, city!” booms Burleigh in this companion to 2009’s Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep! In an imaginary metropolis (where coffee is still just five cents a cup), all the vehicles—from bikes to subways—spring to life, most of them with eager smiles and bright headlight eyes. Each spread is snapshot of people happily in motion at a particular time of day, from the early morning garbage pickup to the time when late-night revelers call it quits (“Tired dancers/ slowly walking./ Subway riders/ softly talking”). Mid-afternoon finds school kids on a public bus eager to get home and hit the streets on wheels of their own: “Step on it, Driver./ Show some speed./ Rock it. Roll it./ Take the lead./ School’s out city!” reads one of Burleigh’s clipped couplets. Carpenter’s (Sad Santa) carefree scenes, digitally rendered and saturated in primary colors, are the very picture of urban hustle and bustle, with a jaunty look of 1960s animation. Visual sound effect cues abound in dynamic display type: “rumble! rumble! rattle-rattle-roll!” As much fun as flooring it—and a lot safer. Ages 3–7.

December 1, 2013
An energetic, multivehicle ride through a bustling city day. A cheerful sun awakens a sleeping metropolis, and garbage trucks and joggers take to the streets. With each spread, the day progresses. Rhyming text, jam-packed with action, propels the day forward, as each refrain announces the inhabitants' intentions: "Work time," "Lunch time," "Play time," "Party time." Exuberant onomatopoeia incorporated into the artwork follows the refrains, as trucks vroom, vans dash, and firetrucks flash. The frenetic pace finally slows at day's end, as stores close, parties come to an end, and revelers walk home. Hushed tones denote the need for sleep. Carpenter's retro-styled computer illustrations have a simple charm. Each spread offers something of interest, whether in pattern, composition or character. Done in a simple palette primarily of yellow, blue and red, with a base tone reminiscent of newsprint, the cheery artwork also captures the activity and grit of the city. Young vehicle-lovers will rev their engines for more. (Picture book. 2-6)

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February 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 1-Vehicles, buildings, streets, and people abound in this picture book about the noises heard during the course of a city day. The personified metropolis starts out in darkness, and sleeping cars and a cat are showcased in the opening pages. The cars' eyes open, and a person sitting outside a cafe yawns as a smiling sun peeks over the skyline. A series of rhyming verses detail the day's hubbub, while the city's sounds appear in large block letters across each spread. Other occasions that are presented include lunch time, school dismissal, fun time, dinner, party time, and bedtime. The couplets don't always advance the events in an understandable, rhythmic way ("Bus comes rocking./Whoops. Jump./Squeeze inside./Sit down. Bump-bump."), nor are the city noises necessarily sounds, as when work trucks are accompanied by "Dart! Dash! Dart-dive-dash!" Busy pages and a lack of continuity in the central concept of city sounds may prove challenging for storytime read-alouds, but the digital cartoon illustrations done in primary colors will appeal to young children who love to pore over transportation books.-Julie R. Ranelli, Queen Anne's County Free Library, Stevensville, MD

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
Preschool-G Make room on the big-noisy-vehicle shelf. Burleigh and Carpenter give us a busy city with streets full of a vast variety of noisy modes of transportation: garbage trucks, double-decker buses, trains, cars, skateboards, and much more move boisterously up and down the streets. Hustle Bustle!, Vroom-Vroom!, Rattle! Rattle!, and Whoosh-Whoosh! fill the air from early morning to late at night when Shuffle. Shuffle. Whisper-whisper-yawn takes over. Although such a noisy place could be an assault to the senses, all the residents of this city, especially the broadly smiling vehicles, seem to be remarkably happy as they go about their business. Perhaps it's Burleigh's cheerful, rhyming text, which counterbalances the noises that swirl across the chunky, retro backdrops in rich reds, blues, and yellows. It's a gleeful romp and a nice companion piece to Burleigh's earlier work Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep! Listen to the City (2009).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)