Booklist (April 15, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 16))
Preschool-Grade 1. Maybe they haven’t pitted this exact pair against one another, but there’s little doubting young boys’ ability to spend hours and considerable blocks of imagination smashing different toys together in a knock-down, drag-out battle royale for romper-room supremacy. The opening spread shows two boys digging through a toy box, each pulling out a fearsome competitor. In this corner, there’s Shark (I’m going to choo-choo you up and spit you out); and in the other, Train (Ha! I’m going to fin-ish you, mackerel-breath). The bout gets progressively more ridiculous with each escalating shift in setting and rules. Early rounds in the ocean and on the tracks are split; Shark has the upper hand on the high-dive, and Train in giving carnival rides. Neither turns out to be much good at the Extreme Zombie-Squirrel Motocross video game (no thumbs) or sword fighting on a tightrope. Barton’s imaginative and wacky scenarios are knocked home by Lichtenheld’s ferociously funny artwork and will leave kids measuring up their dump truck and T-Rex for the next tale of the tape.
Preschool-Grade 1. Maybe they haven’t pitted this exact pair against one another, but there’s little doubting young boys’ ability to spend hours and considerable blocks of imagination smashing different toys together in a knock-down, drag-out battle royale for romper-room supremacy. The opening spread shows two boys digging through a toy box, each pulling out a fearsome competitor. In this corner, there’s Shark (I’m going to choo-choo you up and spit you out); and in the other, Train (Ha! I’m going to fin-ish you, mackerel-breath). The bout gets progressively more ridiculous with each escalating shift in setting and rules. Early rounds in the ocean and on the tracks are split; Shark has the upper hand on the high-dive, and Train in giving carnival rides. Neither turns out to be much good at the Extreme Zombie-Squirrel Motocross video game (no thumbs) or sword fighting on a tightrope. Barton’s imaginative and wacky scenarios are knocked home by Lichtenheld’s ferociously funny artwork and will leave kids measuring up their dump truck and T-Rex for the next tale of the tape.
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