Bound To Stay Bound

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School Library Journal - 03/01/2015 PreS-Gr 1—Fleming and Rohmann team up for their second picture book in celebration of Bulldozer's birthday. He zooms across the construction site in joyous anticipation of his big day only to discover that every construction truck he greets is too busy to acknowledge anything more than the jobs that need to be done. As surely as the scooping, sifting, and stirring prevails, Bulldozer's blade droops lower and lower as the day passes without recognition. When the construction whistle signals the end of the work day with a big "Wooot!" all hope is lost until a "Feeef!" and a "Toot! Tweet! Ah-wooo!" signal the start of a surprise birthday party. Rohmann's signature relief (block) prints are a perfect complement to Fleming's earnest tale. The bold black lines of the machines and construction site are balanced by the black framed pages and offset by the trucks' primary colors and variable backgrounds in blues and white. Chunky details, especially the trucks' eyes and the rubble they're tending, make the story come alive. The heavyweight matte paper and relief lettering on the dust jacket add satisfying tactile details to the engaging text and playful illustrations. VERDICT This masterfully crafted story will become a favorite read-aloud choice.—Lynn Van Auken, Oak Bluffs School, Oak Bluffs, MA - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/15/2015 Little Bulldozer is excited about celebrating his special day with a party. But, as he trundles from one construction vehicle to another on the job site, he is dismayed to find everyone is too busy working to share his enthusiasm. As disappointment grows, his blade droops a little more and his movements slow from zooming to crawling. Rohmann uses block prints, with three plates for each illustration, employing a printmaking system that results in clear and colorful black-framed pictures with images outlined in thick black lines. The silhouette of a large city skyline is shown in the background while the construction site and a variety of trucks are close-up. Action verbs liked rolled, rumbled, rattled, and grumbled add zest to the tale of the little vehicle’s big day and its eventual happy ending. Repetition throughout will be welcomed by emerging readers, and observant children will begin to identify what the vehicles are constructing. Match this with Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, by Sherri Duskey Rinker (2011), and make young vehicle-lovers very happy. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2015 Little yellow Bulldozer is so excited about his upcoming party that his tracks lift right off the ground. His earth-moving friends are so busy at the construction site, though, that they brush off his greetings of “Guess what today is!” Digger curtly answers that it’s a scooping day, Cement Mixer calls it a stirring day, Scraper says it’s a filling day, and so on. Bulldozer is a bit more deflated by each response, until the site whistles blow and a crane raises from the pit a gigantic three-layer metal birthday cake, complete with blazing candles, which the machines had been working on all day long. Rohmann’s vehicles, with expressive eyes peering from their windshields, are as kid-pleasing as ever, heavily outlined in black and touched with purposely messy little splatters of ink and color that lend texture and dash to the gritty construction scenes. Visual teasers encourage viewers to guess at the surprise party finale before Bulldozer does, although the opening announcement that “he couldn’t wait to invite all his friends to a party” is a broad tip-off (and it’s not clear what happens to that party). The role of the individual construction vehicles, which should be a hook for many children, is something of a letdown since it’s difficult to see in the coyly staged close-ups exactly how each contributes to the cake. A near miss as both a birthday story and a builders book, this may nonetheless find favor with young listeners who will enjoy simply pointing at and identifying the big trucks. EB - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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