If My Love Were a Fire Truck

April 17, 2017
As a father tucks his child into bed, playful allusions communicate the breadth of his love: “If my love were a marching band,/ its drums would crash and boom./ And if my love were a racing car,/ it would rev and rattle and vroom.” Mack’s bright mixed-media scenes emphasize the strong connection between father and son as they roar like lions on the savannah, dive for undersea treasure, and watch fireworks: “If my love were a firework,/ it would blast long past this song.” Reynolds provides an uplifting message of comfort and commitment in this easygoing lullaby. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content.

April 1, 2017
A father's lullaby to his young son imagines his affection in figurative language."If my love were an elephant, / it would stomp from tree to tree. / And if my love were a great blue whale, / it would splash across the sea." From a rocket ship blasting off and a marching band whose drums "crash and boom" to a bucking bronco and a lion's thundering roar, the text describes where and how this dad's love for his son might manifest. The boldly colored mixed-media illustrations show the duo (both pale-skinned and black-haired) in each situation: knights in armor roasting marshmallows behind a shield that protects them from a dragon's fiery breath or divers discovering a treasure chest on the ocean floor. Most of the rhymes scan well, though the text ends rather suddenly: "If my love were a firework, / it would blast long past this song. // And if my love were a big bear hug, / it would snuggle you all night long." The visual here is much more satisfying than the words, as the two are fast asleep, smiles on their faces, child lying atop father, each with an arm around the other. Readers are likely to wish for the music to go with the verses.An opening for parent-child pairs to use their own imaginations to see where love will take them. (Picture book. 3-7)

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April 1, 2017
PreS-Gr 1-As a dad tucks his son in for the night, the toy fire truck the boy cradles inspires a rhyming song about all the ways a father's love keeps a son safe and happy, wherever they may be. -If my love were a knight's big shield, /it would fight any dragon's flame./And if my love were a lion's roar, /it would thunder across the plain.- The mixed-media scenes show the boy and his dad floating in space, surfing in the ocean, and finding treasure while scuba diving. They race cars, ride horses, and wave to the monkeys while on a safari. Everything they do, they do together, even falling asleep. The colorful art is simple and engaging. VERDICT This bedtime story reassures and entertains. A guaranteed hit for vehicle lovers.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2018
"If my love were a deep-sea dive, it would touch the ocean floor. / And if my love were a surfing champ, it would ride every wave to shore." Illustrations depicting a father tending to his young son at bedtime bookend images showing them in various hypothetical scenarios. The rhymes strain for the tenderness that's apparent in the attentive mixed-media art.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)