School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-The New Zealand duo who created Roadwork (2008) and Demolition (2012, both Candlewick) turn their considerable talents to the building of a library. The foundation is prepared, the holes are filled with concrete, and the building rises. Clad in safety gear, men and women of different ethnic backgrounds cut the planks, raise the roof, fit the doors and windows, lay the pipes, and run the wires. "Spread the paint. Spread the paint./Bend and stretch and stoop./ Let it dry, then paint some more./Glug! GLOP! GLOOP!" Children put books on the shelves, and the final spread shows them entering their own glass-enclosed children's room and reading. Printed in large, clear letters, the rhythmic text uses basic vocabulary, strong verbs, and onomatopoeia, making it wonderful to read aloud. Artwork is done in ink, acrylic, and colored pencil on full-bleed spreads where pigmented inks and a variety of perspectives are used to great effect. A picture vocabulary at the end identifies excavators, cranes, and trucks on site as well as the safety equipment worn by workers. The simplicity of the telling and the rich details in the spreads make this a must-have for all libraries serving young children.-Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
"Raise the roof. Raise the roof. / Drive the screws in now. / Power tools will do the job. / Ring! ZING! POW!" Sutton and Lovelock are back on the job (Roadwork; Demolition, rev. 5/12), here with a builder's-eye view of a construction project. Big trucks and workers in hard hats and reflective gear are the stars of the show; every spread features heavy machinery, lots of tools, and men and women hard at work. With plenty of onomatopoeia and action verbs, the rhyming text effectively brings the sounds ("Bing! BANG! BONG!") of a construction site to life. Lovelock's illustrations, cleanly rendered in pigmented inks, portray activity without being overly busy themselves. The text and art move briskly through the various building stages -- from digging holes for foundation piles to laying pipes to moving in "shelves and books." Listeners will enjoy guessing what the new building will be before the last spread reveals: "The library's here for everyone. / Ready / STEADY / READ!" The final page provides a few relevant details about the featured machines. kitty flynn (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Sutton and Lovelock are back for more fun combining dynamic text and illustrations for little builders. From digging the foundation's first holes to putting on the final coat of paint, workers construct a new building from the ground up. Sutton's rhythm and rhyming text pulsates, moving the pace along briskly. "Dig the ground. Dig the ground. / Bore down in the mud." Onomatopoeia rounds out each stanza: "Shove the piles in one by one. / Slip! SLAP! THUD!" Bold, bright illustrations convey the scope of the effort and machinery required to lift stacks of lumber or sheets of plate glass into place. As in the team's previous Roadwork (2008), Lovelock shows plenty of women and people of color working on the construction site. The perspective changes effectively, allowing readers to look down from above the scene or to crouch low to look up at the machines. After the final coat of paint is spread, movers start to bring in boxes of books, as the new building will be a local library: "The library's here for everyone. / ReadySTEADYREAD!" A final page includes facts about both machines and construction workers' special clothing. There's always room for one more good construction book: Make a spot for this one. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The parade of heavy-duty tools and machinery continues as Sutton and Lovelock follow up Roadwork (2008) and Demolition (2012) with a thoroughly worthy building project. To large-type commentary marked by pounding rhythms and onomatopoeic choruses Dig the ground. Dig the ground. / Bore down in the mud. / Shove the piles in one by one. / SLIP! SLAP! THUD! hard-hatted workers of both sexes put up metal beams, wooden framework, roofing, windows, pipes and wiring, and walls, in proper succession. After that, once painters and others have taken care of the finishing and furnishing, it's finally time to open . . . the new library: READY . . . STEADY . . . READ! Along with speckles and spatters of paint that add a suitably rugged look, the illustrations depict on-site views of a crane, a concrete pumper, and other machines in use, capped by a final page of identifers and descriptive notes. Bread and butter for budding building boffins.--Peters, John Copyright 2014 Booklist
