Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-Willis takes six traditional rhymes and gives them a new twist by successfully rescuing each character through the arrival of the nursery-rhyme ambulance. "Here comes the ambulance! It's on its way./Who's had an accident in Storyland today?/Driver, put your foot down. Don't waste time./This is an Emergency Nursery Rhyme." It rescues a cow that has tripped over the moon, Rock-a-bye Baby in a compost heap, and even manages to put the shattered Humpty Dumpty together again using jam and bread. Stewart's mixed-media cartoon illustrations are done in a cheerful palette and have a child-friendly quirkiness. Children would need to be familiar with the original rhymes to appreciate the parodies, but hopefully they would be. VERDICT While not an essential purchase, this book could make a nice complement to a nursery rhyme-themed storytime.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ © Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
For this clever story, Willis invents a genial ambulance crew who takes care of nursery rhyme accidents. "Has Jack Be Nimble burned his bum? / Has Little Jack Horner choked on a plum?" The illustrations are as sprightly as the rhyme; the ambulance bounces down the road, while ambulance-chasing characters from "Hey Diddle Diddle," such as the dish and the spoon, show up at each emergency. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Hey-diddle-diddle! Nursery-rhyme EMTs rescue stranded characters from "Mother Goose." In verse! All the animals stop to watch the ambulance zoom by. "Who's had an accident in Storyland today?" they wonder. Turns out it's the farmer's cow, who fell from a great height. A trio of paramedics patches her up, and she responds with a hearty "Moo!" The next day is even busier. They rescue Rock-a-Bye Baby, who fell from a bough. They bandage the nose of a poor washer maid who was bitten by a blackbird, a brother of the four and 20 that were baked into that pie. They race to the notorious wall to tend to the big egg Humpty Dumpty after his fall. The King's Horses and Men arrive while the ambulance crew is using jam and bread to cover Humpty's wounds. Next up is Little Boy Blue, whom they find beneath a haystack. He's none the worse for wear, but his mangled horn needs emergency repair, with hammers and "trumpet tape." Willis' verse is bouncy without being overworked, and she puns with the best of them. Stewart's illustrations are appropriately bright and busy, offering plenty of side business for cognoscenti. The EMTs are human, two Caucasian and one black, and two of them are comfortably well-padded. Children just graduating from nursery rhymes will find this a hoot. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
