What Do Wheels Do All Day?

by Giles Laroche (Illustrator), April Jones Prince

Overview

Yeah, what do wheels do all day?
Well . . . they push . . . race . . . stroll . . . fly . . . whiz . . . and spin . . . all day long!

Simple, direct text, combined with brilliant cut-paper relief illustrations, captures kids’ fascination with “things that go” and opens their minds to the wide variety of wheels and what they do.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618563074
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	05/22/2006
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	180,541
Product dimensions:	10.50(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.39(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Giles Laroche lives in Salem, Massachusetts. His amazing paper relief art has illustrated many children's books. This is his first book for Houghton Mifflin.

April Jones Prince is a children's book author and freelance editor. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and young son. Her most recent book for Houghton Mifflin was Twenty-one Elephants and Still Standing, a story about P. T. Barnum and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Editorial Reviews

"A short rhyming text in very large type provides the framework for Laroche's impressive bas-relief cut-paper collages. . . . Best of all, the wide, single-scene spreads create their own staccato rhythm, with wheels of all sizes punctuating the pages like beats of a drum."—Horn Book, starred Horn Book, Starred

"This handsome, large-format picture book points out common uses of wheels in a short, rhyming text, brightly illustrated with distinctive collage illustrations. . . . A simply written, well-illustrated picture book."—Booklist Booklist, ALA

"The striking collage art consists of paper cutouts that have been layered to provide dimension and enhanced by drawing and painting. . . . A fun choice for storytime."–SLJ School Library Journal

From the Publisher

This is the perfect vehicle for all the cool minutiae that transportation buffs love. Intricate paper collages show every beloved spoke and hubcap on a fleet of wheeled objects, including rollerblades, trains, tractors, and even pinwheels. "Wheels zoom,/wheels putter./Sometimes wheels spit and sputter," rhymes the jaunty text, brought to life by an airborne skateboarder, a man in a golf cart, and a traffic jam packed with dozens of cars. With so much detail, this clever homage to wheels will thoroughly entertain children who love things that go. (Ages 2 to 4)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2006

Focusing on everyday uses of wheels, the large print text and colorful collage illustrations celebrate wheels as children are likely to see them in their own surroundings. Some of the wheels that help people move about are shown on a car, a scooter, a tricycle, a baby stroller, and a wheel chair. Pinwheels, tops, and roller skates whiz, while wheels on trains, trucks, and windmills whir. The wheels on a skateboard zoom and the wheels on a golf cart putter. A bicycle race, a traffic jam, and a parade are featured in full-page spreads. A Ferris wheel soars into the sky. Wheels work and wheels play. That is what wheels do all day. The detailed collage illustrations are the most distinguishing aspect of the book. Appearing as double-page spreads and as rectangular inserts, each picture features a detailed painted background accented with collage creations made with textured paper cutouts. This large sized book with rhyming text is sure to become a story time favorite with preschoolers. 2006, Houghton Mifflin, Ages 2 to 7.
—Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D.

Children's Literature

PreS-K-A colorful concept book on a subject that fascinates young readers. The brief rhyming text and precise artwork feature different types of wheels performing many jobs: "Push/Pull/Pedal/Tow/Wheels help to make us go." Square vignettes offer numerous close-up examples, while single- and double-page pictures show broader scenes depicting bikes, a skateboard, a golf cart, a helicopter, a tire swing, and more. The striking collage art consists of paper cutouts that have been layered to provide dimension and enhanced by drawing and painting. The phrase, "Wheels soar into the sky," is illustrated with the dramatic image of a Ferris wheel resplendent in bright primary colors and set against a starlit backdrop, perfectly capturing the thrill and function of this engineering marvel. "Sometimes wheels spit and sputter" is accompanied by a spread packed with a crisply hued array of cars. Puffs of smoke coming from several tailpipes indicate a traffic jam, and each unique automobile has its own passengers and details. The anticipatory quality of the rhymes and the detailed visuals will help children to guess the next word, making this a fun choice for storytime. It will also be a hit with the train- and truck-loving crowd.-Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Captioned by Prince's very brief, loosely rhymed commentary ("Wheels whiz, wheels whir. / Wheels carry travelers."), Laroche's expert paint-and-cut-paper collages, on a variety of page layouts, depict all sorts of people using wheels of all sizes at work and play. For "Wheels help to make us go," they are attached to wagon, wheelchair, stroller, car and bike. They can be spinning on playgrounds ("wheels spin") and windmills; propelling a helicopter ("Wheels twirl"), inline skates ("Wheels roll") swinging beneath a tree branch, spinning within machinery or, in the most spectacular of the scenes, "Wheels soar into the sky" as a Ferris wheel carries bright-colored cars upside down and over. Wheel this in after or instead of Shelley Rotner's photographically illustrated Wheels Around (1995), and leave preschool audiences' heads a-spin. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews