The Village Garage (Christy Ottaviano Books)
PreSchool-Grade 2—This simple yet effective book looks at a village garage through the seasons and its workers' many jobs. In spring, it's clean-up time, as the men and women gather sticks from winter storms, sand from snowplows, and leftover leaves. When summer comes, it's time to patch the potholes and rebuild a bridge washed out by a storm. The workers relax on the Fourth of July, providing hot dogs, fireworks, and free rides on the front-end loader for the townspeople. Fall means leaf collection with the Elephant Truck. Winter brings out the snowplows, and things come full circle as spring returns. Karas's gouache and acrylic illustrations depict a friendly village with winding streets, fruit stands, and quaint shops. This book would be a good choice for discussing how seasons affect occupations, or as part of career and community-helper units.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.