What Can a Crane Pick Up?

PreS-K–Smiling, anthropomorphic machines romp through the pages of this rhyming text, showing the many things a crane can pick up, from trucks to cars and trains to planes, from sunken ships and mummy cases to a space shuttle. Sometimes they lift up a polar bear or cartons and cartons of underwear. Cranes can even pick up other cranes. Lowery’s pencil, silk screen, and digital-media art makes excellent use of flat, retro colors–blue, green, brown, gold, yellow, and gray–and seamlessly integrates the type into the design. The humorous text is just the ticket for toddler storytimes, although some of the rhymes seem a bit forced. The imaginative, lighthearted illustrations are the real draw here and will be a big hit with construction-site lovers. They’re sure to want to hear this one again and again.–Sharon Grover, Hedberg Public Library, Janesville, WI