Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Exclamatory prose exuberantly narrates this fast-paced, cumulative sledding journey that visualizes a continuous hill running from each verso's top left corner to each recto's bottom right. Spread by spread, a sled comically careens downhill, picking up passengers along the way. At the helm is an elf-like stocking-capped character, portrayed with pink skin, whose alarmed pronouncements--and apologies--are captured with speech bubbles each time the sled scoops up another hillside bystander. "Oh, bunny! No!" the sledder shouts before an apparent collision leaves the hare atop the their head ("Sorry, bunny"). Other encounters fill the vessel with a snowman, moose, and more, each cranking up the comedy (penguins--"on vacation"--scatter like bowling pins before one lands head down in the sled). Arrival at a precipice conveys drama and humor as the whole group loop-de-loops through the sky and, "plop," into the snow. Yang's digital renderings exude a contemporary, geometric aesthetic, coolly emphasizing icy blues in this riotous tobogganing adventure. Ages 3--7. (Oct.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Toddler-PreS--Geisel Award--winning Yang creates another enticing work for the very smallest book lover. "Go, sled! Go! Oh, bunny! No!" A young child embarks on a thrilling sled ride, picking up a host of animals, people, and experiences, one by one, until the crew crashes through a mountain village, picks up a baker, and finally comes to rest at the base of the mountain. The whimsical text uses repetition and inventive design that imitates the exciting motion of hurtling downhill; the timing is perfect, and the chaos is gratifying. Illustrations are bright, cheerful, and age appropriate. Onlookers, young or old, will start wishing for snow for their own exciting sled rides. VERDICT A worthy addition to any preschool or early childhood library; highly recommended for children and great fun to read aloud.--Brittany McMahon
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Review by Horn Book Review
This picture book that doubles as a beginning reader by Geisel-winner Yang (Stop! Bot!) follows a child sledding down a mountain and colliding with animals who become accidental passengers on the sled. The uncluttered graphic compositions are nearly all double-page spreads in icy shades of blue with pops of red and green and plenty of white space. Wintry illustrations keep focus on the words and actions as the sled runs into a bunny ("Oh, bunny! No!") and then a snowman ("Oh, snowman! No!"). The classic (think Mr. Gumpy's Outing) humorous-and-improbable setup grows wilder as the book unfolds -- in this case, as a moose, a penguin, and a baker (complete with a stack of cakes!) join the menagerie on the increasingly crowded sled. The spare text relies heavily on the repetition of two-letter words and uses only three to eight words per spread, making this an achievable experience for the earliest readers and a fast-paced and funny read-aloud for everyone else. In the end, a mere snowflake tips the packed sled off the edge of a cliff, through a ski jump, and headfirst into a snowbank. The child asks, "Shall we go again?" The passengers shout "NO," but young readers will shout "YES!" Adrienne L. PettinelliJanuary/February 2023 p.73 (c) Copyright 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
An action-focused sled ride. A cheerful character with tan skin and a striped cap totters over the crest of a bare snowy mountain on a yellow toboggan. The text gets right to the point, cheering, "Go, sled! Go!" The protagonist stares in dismay, shouting, "Oh, bunny! No!" as the sled barrels toward the startled critter. The sled doesn't slow, and the following page shows the bunny riding along, too. With slight variations, this encounter repeats when the sled comes across a snowman, a moose, penguins, and the tan-skinned, pink-haired Mrs. Baker, whose cakes wind up everywhere when she ends up onboard. As the sled races along, picking up passengers, the dialogue, in speech bubbles, includes apologies and checks on well-being, perfect for starting conversations about emotions and helping friends. The chunky black text gloriously becomes art, wrapping around in circles for the sled's inevitable roller-coaster loop. Basic action words like jump and stop will make for interactive read-aloud moments. Blocky graphic illustrations are grounded in paper-white snow and blue tones throughout. The book contains many visual and narrative similarities to Kim Norman's Ten on the Sled (2010), illustrated by Liza Woodruff, and other stories where each spread slip-slides into the next. But Yang's tale is an earnest, pleasant romp, and there is room on the shelf for this one, too. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Simply fun, ripe for repeat reads. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
