Tools Rule!

December 2, 2013
The backyard looks somebody opened up a toolbox and spread the contents hither and thither. There’s work to be done, and the tools themselves are just the can-do objects for the job—every one of them has a ready smile and eager eyes. After treating readers to a smattering of tool puns (“Vise, we’re all scattered. What should we do?” “My advice, Let’s get a grip on things.”), Meshon (Take Me Out to the Yakyu) puts his cheery toylike crew to work building a tool shed. The bright cartoon spreads are filled with an epic cast of very cute characters, but by using arrows emblazoned with text to emphasize key actions (“Saw saws Wood”), Meshon makes the project easy to follow. With plenty of deeply satisfying onomatopoeia (“Vrip! Vrip! Vrip!” is the sound of the saw) and tool jokes (What sound does a nail make when it’s being hammered in? “Ok! Ouch! Ok! Ok! Ouch!”), the story should be deemed a job well done by preschool or kindergarten DIYers. Ages 4–8. Agent: Ruben Pfeffer, East West Literary Agency.

January 1, 2014
Are there any tots who don't like to play with toy tools? Most likely not, and this appealing and inventive story features animated tool characters, each with its own individual traits. T Square rounds up a crew of tools to clean up a messy yard and build a tool shed. T Square and Pencil draft plans; Wheelbarrow gathers materials; Saw saws Wood; Drill drills Screws; Level inspects; Glue glues on Roof Tiles, etc. Together, they work hard, and when the project is finished, they go to sleep in an organized toolshed feeling satisfied. The colored digital illustrations are imaginative (each tool has eyes, and some have legs), with sound effects offering opportunities for participation: "Brush brushes Paint. SWISH! SWASH! SLOP!" Mild puns add to the fun, as when T Square holds the flashlight to illuminate the darkened outbuilding and says, "Let me shed some light on things!" Diagrammatic arrows with large letters nail down the interchange among the tools and cleverly enforce the concept of working together. Meshon's animated style in this story could easily be turned into a short film cartoon. Buy it along with a wooden tool set as a gift for an enterprising young carpenter. (Picture book. 4-8)

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February 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 2-A yard full of amiable tools comes together to build a toolshed. Meshon's illustrations are bright, bold, and emblazoned with smiling faces. Even the tiniest eraser on a pencil has a cute cartoon face. The large, clear font will make this clever title an appropriate choice for beginning readers and will challenge older readers to move beyond the basics (saw, hammer, nails) and learn about more advanced tools, such as an awl and a T square. To complement the anthropomorphic tools, the text includes onomatopoeia sound effects: "Saw saws Wood. 'Vrip! Vrip! Vrip!' Drill drills Screws. 'Zip! Zip! Zip!'" With this lively text and positive message about the benefits of teamwork, Tools Rule! will please readers with an interest in how things work and provide an opportunity to spur engaging audience participation while reading aloud. This book could provide an excellent jumping-off point to engage students in further informational reading about tools or building structures.-Nora Clancy, Teachers College Community School, New York City

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2014
Preschool-G A yard full of anthropomorphized tools organizes itself into action in order to build a shed they can call home. Each of the members of this smiling menagerie performs its job according to plandrafting, measuring, cutting, assembling, and demonstrating good spirit and admirable teamwork in the process. Meshon (Take Me Out to the Yakyu, 2013) draws the action in flat, blocky simplicity, with heavy outlines and only the occasional shadow. His cartoony characters have a familiar, kawaii sweetness, with big, wide-set eyes and broad smiles, matched in their punny word-balloon dialogue ( What a mess! / Calling all tools . . . / to the workbench / one and all. Awl, that / means you too! ). And the especially vivid palette, with a remarkable range of saturated colors and rich, dense backgrounds, adds to the good-natured ebullience. This friendly, informative outing will appeal to budding builders with an interest in colorful construction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)