Big Machines

August 7, 2017
Rinker and Rocco reveal how Virginia Lee Burton transformed her children’s love of powerful vehicles into a string of picture books, including her Caldecott Medal–winning The Little House. Burton’s study of art and dance are on full display in Rocco’s mixed-media illustrations, her movements balletic as she lays the groundwork for her illustrations in pencil. Rinker’s exuberant text focuses on process (“First there is jump paper: white, white, white.... With a whoosh of black and some strokes of red and green, Aris and Michael meet... Katy!”) and on the joy Burton’s creations brought to her sons. Burton’s fans will enjoy teasing out the visual references to her work, both in Rocco’s use of color and form (including several circular vignettes), while feeling intimately connected to how these treasured stories came into being. Ages 4–7. Illustrator’s agent: Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Creative Management.

Starred review from July 1, 2017
Virginia Lee Burton's big machines roar to new life in a new biography of the author. Rinker, author of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site (2014; illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld), is right at home describing the life and times of big machines. "Ting, Ting, Ting!...CLINGETY-CLANG!" comes Maybelle the cable car. "CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!" says Katy the crawler tractor as she digs her way through a double-page spread of snow. Clearly a labor of love for Rocco, the illustrations demonstrate the same care for book design evident in Burton's work. Endpapers depict Burton's Little House encircled by big machines, an effect akin to the block-printed fabrics of the Folly Cove design group the illustrator worked with in Massachusetts. Rocco's illustrations capture the look, personality, and energy of the machines without being overly imitative, and he offers playful departures, such as the final double-page spread featuring a spirited procession of Choo Choo, Mary Anne the steam shovel, Katy, and Maybelle as "their stories come to life...quite magically... / for Aris and Michael," Burton's sons, represented as her inspirations. The beautiful symbiosis of text and art works on several levels--as a biography, a study of the artist's creative process, and a demonstration of the themes of change and survival evident in Burton's picture books. Alive, bursting with color and action, this volume introduces Virginia Lee Burton to a new generation of big machine enthusiasts. (author's note) (Picture book/biography. 4-10)

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October 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-A coal engine, a steam shovel, a snowplow, and a cable car are the big machines that Rinker and Rocco celebrate in the story of Virginia Lee Burton's creative life. Burton's young children, Aris and Michael, clamored for stories about big machines, so "Jinnee" responded by creating Choo Choo, Mary Anne, and the others. For readers not familiar with the stories, Rinker summarizes each over a few pages, imagining Aris and Michael's reactions. Rinker also introduces an element of wonder in the narration, describing Burton as magical and her artists' tools as wands. Rocco's illustrations help convey the magic of creation: to complete the top of Choo Choo's cab, he shows Burton climbing up the ladder that she has just sketched so that she can reach. Rocco also pays tribute to Burton's early passion for ballet by depicting her creation of the big machines as graceful full-body gestures. Elements of Burton's illustrations and attention to design appear in Rocco's art: the puff of smoke above Choo Choo's smokestack contains a visual summary of the engine's adventures. This is a lovely tribute, both to a marvelous creator of books for children as well as the creative process itself. VERDICT Recommended for most picture book biography collections.-Jennifer Costa, Cambridge Public Library, MA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2017
Preschool-G *Starred Review* This enchanting portrayal of Virginia Lee Burton focuses primarily on the creation of her picture books Choo Choo (1937), Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1939), Katy and the Big Snow (1943), Maybelle the Cable Car (1952), and the Caldecott Awardwinning The Little House (1942). Viewed by her neighbors in Folly Cove, beautiful Jinnee Burton is quite magical when she dances. But she is also a young mother who creates stories and art that bring big machines to life, delighting her two young sons, Aris and Michael. First she amazes Aris by sketching a full-size picture of a train that chugs off down the track. Next, after watching a digger truck with Michael, she draws him a steam shovel to call his very own. More characters and books follow, to the boys' satisfaction. The writer of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site (2011), Rinker contributes a well-researched, nicely worded story incorporating larger-than-life elements. Made with colored pencil, watercolors, and digital media, Rocco's creative illustrations include his interactive interpretations of scenes from Burton's books, including one in which the artist leans out of the Little House to finish drawing its exterior. Prime material for classroom author studies and a lively, imaginative introduction to Burton's classic picture books.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)