Motor Goose

June 15, 2017
Mother Goose gets a mechanical makeover in this gear-inspired nursery-rhyme collection. Twenty-three familiar rhymes are rewritten with a wide range of vehicles in mind. As nursery rhymes are such a flexible form, they easily lend themselves to Colby's motorized reimaginings. Whether it's "Little Miss Mixer," "This Little Steam Train," or "Bumpty Dumpty" (about a dump truck, naturally), caregivers should have no difficulty singing, chanting, or rhythmically reading the verses on display. Each scans perfectly, never requiring readers to engage in any verbal gymnastics. There are even helpful hints for caregivers below each poem's title, indicating its original name ("Little Jack Junker" references "Little Jack Horner," for instance). While most of the poems in this collection pass muster, the same cannot be said for Kaminsky's digital art. His cartoony anthropomorphic vehicles are rendered with little sophistication in their depictions and as much attention to scale. The media notes tell readers outlines were drawn with a digital piece of soft vine charcoal, but the inconsistency in their thickness between the vehicles and animals depicted gives the compositions a cut-and-paste quality. The result is a book with aural but not visual charm. A partial misfire. (Picture book. 2-5)

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June 1, 2017

PreS-K-Putting a twist on familiar nursery rhymes, Colby has created original, vehicle-themed verses. Her clever parodies, organized by time periods over the course of a day, can be sung or recited. The book wraps up at the end of the day with "Rest Awhile, Cruiser," which can be sung to the tune of "Rock-a-Bye Baby." Some of the creative poems rhyme or scan better than others. "Barry Was a Little Sub" has adult British sensibilities, concluding in the final verse that Barry was a spy. British vocabulary is found in the poem "Old Beat-Up Banger," using a car term that might be unfamiliar to youngsters from the United States. Humor abounds in "Bumpty Dumpty," about a turned-over trash truck, and in "Hey Digger, Digger," where a construction vehicle gets caught in the hole he made. Kaminsky's serviceable artwork uses Corel Painter with digital charcoal to draw the black lines and paint the colors. This style creates a textured appearance for broad areas, such as the pavement or grass. The illustrator also relies on a variety of page designs. For example, the center section showing skyscrapers requires that readers turn the book vertically to appreciate the spread. VERDICT A good poetry option for storytimes or an enjoyable one-on-one lapsit.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA

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