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Reviewed by:
  • Red Sled
  • Deborah Stevenson
Judge, Lita . Red Sled; written and illus. by Lita Judge. Atheneum, 2011. 36p. Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4424-2007-6 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4424-3552-0 $12.99 R 4-7 yrs

In this wintry picture book where the only text is onomatopoeic sound effects, a child leans a trusty red sled against the outside wall of the cabin and then retires inside at the end of day. An interested bear finds the sled and takes off for a satisfying slide with an accumulating number of animal friends, including a rabbit, a moose, an opossum, a couple of raccoons, a porcupine, and a rat. Eventually, the animals politely return the sled; its owner spots the tracks of the sled's borrowers, waits for their return, and then joins them in their next night's snowy downhill romp. In its simplicity and its subject the story recalls Nicola Smee's Jingle Jingle (BCCB 4/08), and it's also got much of the appeal of Aylesworth's The Mitten (BCCB 1/10). Readers-aloud will relish the performance opportunities afforded by the critters' exclamations of "Alley-oop!" as the sled speeds away and "Whoa" when it careens out of control, and there's a pleasing contrast to the intimate hush of the "scrunch scrinch scrunch scrinch scrunch scrinch" made by footsteps (pawsteps?) in snow. Audiences will appreciate the fantastical touch, warming particularly to the possibilities of the human-animal outing under the stars. Soft pencil lines shade and outline pillowy sweeps of snowy landscape, touched with steel-blue tones under the night sky. Horizon lines feature strongly in the background, the exaggerated responses of Bear and co. provide closeup entertainment, and the red sled stands out in sharp contrast. Use this as a wintry bedtime book, and encourage the kids to listen for animal-sledding sounds as they fall asleep.

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