Cars Go

A black bird explores the outdoors, seeing many colors. Simple text is accompanied by brilliant, textured illustrations for a glimpse into what one bird may observe in a day.

A long format is ideal to introduce boats large and small and the sounds they make as they “chum-splish” and “GRRRRR BRRRR…” across the sturdy, colorful pages of this lively book.

What sound does an excavator or a forklift make? Each makes its own noise, presented here in bold, dramatic typefaces dynamically shown on sturdy horizontal pages. Children can be encouraged to repeat sounds made by the variety of equipment — likely to delight construction aficionados.

When a boy’s dragon goes missing in New York City, he goes out in search of it. Readers can explore the city sights while counting from one dragon to 20 lanterns. Illustrations use black line to create texture with color to define the objects counted.

The horizontal format of this sturdy board book is just right for images of all manner of flying machine — from a seaplane to a space shuttle. Each deft image is accompanied by a similar refrain, “The helicopter goes,…” followed by onomatopoeic sounds dramatically presented in bold typeface.

Each type of train makes a slightly different sound from the “clang, ting” and “bing” of a freight train to the “zooosh” of the diesel. The long format is reminiscent of a track to support the colorful trains rushing by as well as their onomatopoeic sounds in varied typeface.

Black cat. White cat. One is stretching out, and the other is crouching. When both perch in a window, one tail is straight, the other one curly. With a mouse to entertain them, variously lost and found, they move through the day, until one cat is awake and the other asleep. The pure color and simple shapes of the stylized illustrations reveal an elegant use of negative and positive space.

Zephyr’s imagination takes off when her family is too busy to play or watch her fly her model plane do spectacular feats. Through a hidden door, Zephyr finds friends, flying ships, returning home in time for breakfast. Comfortable, old-fashioned illustrations complement the telling.