The Ultimate Book of Vehicles: From Around the World

by Anne-Sophie Baumann (Created by), Didier Balicevic (Created by)

Overview

Vehicles, vehicles, vehicles—nearly 100 of them—in all shapes and sizes! A giant crane hovers over a construction site, a space ship roars into space. . . . Supersized spreads feature marvelously detailed illustrations that just beg to be pored over again and again. Best of all, lots of flaps, popups, pull-tabs, and rotating wheels bring the various vehicles to life. Readers will poke into a ship's hold, explore the innards of a garbage truck, and help demolish a house. Any child who's ever been intrigued by the roar of an engine will adore this extraordinary collection of things on the go, from the everyday to the nearly outrageous—yes, there's even a pooper-scooper scooter!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9782848019420
Publisher:	Tourbillon
Publication date:	03/18/2014
Series:	Ultimate Book of Series
Sales rank:	29,492
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 13.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Anne-Sophie Baumann studied science and literature before becoming an editor and author. She lives near Paris, France.

Didier Balicevic studied at École des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg. He lives near Paris, where he works in publishing.

Editorial Reviews

03/10/2014
The French team of Baumann and Balicevic use flaps, wheels, pop-ups, and pivoting brads to showcase dozens of vehicles on land, at sea, in the air, and even off the planet. Cheerful, brightly colored cartoon men and women are seen hard at work throughout: an excavator’s moving arm demolishes a house, a cement mixer “pours” concrete (via a wheel), a flap reveals the workings of a combine, and a firefighter’s ladder ascends for a rescue. Title aside, few vehicles are nation-specific—a “pooper-scooper scooter” belongs to France, Senegalese and Indonesian fishing boats appear, and Russia’s Soyuz rocket lifts off in a pop-up—but there’s plenty on display to satisfy the vehicle-obsessed. Ages 4–9. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"This cheerfully-illustrated, oversized book, with its sturdy flaps, popups, pull-tabs and wheels is just too much fun! "—Redbook Magazine's Mamarama Blog

"Plenty on display to satisfy the vehicle-obsessed."-Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2014-10-06
Fans of trucks, trains, aircraft, and other conveyances large and small will find dozens gathered here, lined up neatly in squads according to function from "Demolition" to "Space Travel." Though most of the vehicles are easily identifiable by sight, small labels will clue in readers unfamiliar with specialized monikers like "wheel excavator" or vehicles not found in the United States, such as the colorfully decorated Pakistani bus and a motorized "pooper scooper scooter" from France. Cartoon passengers or other human figures convey a sense of size, and with occasional concessions, the floating, wheeled or winged machines are depicted at least close to relative scale on each spread. But the pleasures of poring over all the transports, earth movers and Earth leavers will pall quickly even for confirmed enthusiasts: So flat and generic are the images that many with similar purposes look like variations on the same shape. Moreover, an (rather skimpy) assortment of jointed arms, sliders, spinners and flaps that lift to provide cutaway views create at best only localized feelings of movement or visual drama. Also, the titular "ultimate" begs the lack of military or (aside from a space shuttle on the final spread) historical vehicles on view. A sizable gallery but, overall, a monotonous one. (Pop-up informational picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews