Red Sled

Starred review from October 17, 2011
With a few well-chosen sound effects, a cozy winter landscape, and a group of enthusiastic, four-legged sledders, Judge (Strange Creatures: The Story of Walter Rothschild and His Museum) creates a story that’s both cuddly and smartly paced. “Scrunch scrinch scrunch scrinch scrunch scrinch” is just the noise a bear’s padded paws might make walking across the snow as he nicks a red sled he finds leaning up against a house—he’s intent on a little evening recreation. “Gadung gadung gadung gadung” is the noise the sled makes as it courses, shuddering, down the hill under the combined weight of the bear, a moose, and a rabbit. “Sssssffft” is the sound it makes as the three carve out a turn past a tree with a couple of curious raccoon pups and an opossum on it, then “Whoa” as the spectators drop onto the crowded sled. Judge makes the animals fuzzy and well-padded without slipping into sentimentality. Her spreads are lucidly drafted, the action is easy to follow—peppy, but never frenetic—and the conclusion is both inevitable and satisfying. Ages 2–5.

October 1, 2011
Judge's latest may be virtually wordless, but it packs a powerful visual punch that will stick with readers long after the final page is turned. At the end of a winter day, a child props the titular sled outside a cozy cabin. A bear finds it there and sets off to enjoy the ride of all rides, joined in turn by some other forest denizens. As each joins the ride, the animals' positions change: The bear is on his back with the rabbit perched on his feet, then he is atop the moose's antlers, a position next occupied by an exhilarated-looking porcupine. By the end of the hill, the tower of animals on top of the sled is quite shaky and collapses, "fluoomp…….ft" in a heap. The entirety is wordless but for the carefully chosen onomatopoeic words that perfectly capture the sounds and bring the adventure to life: the "scrinch scrunch" of footsteps in new snow, the "sssssffft" of the sled on its run and the "whoa" of the animals as they enjoy the ride. When the fun is over, they return the sled to the cabin, where the child puzzles over the footprints in the morning. Though rendered simply, Judge's pencil-and-watercolor animals are gloriously full of life and infectious joy. Readers will be hard-pressed to finish this without letting their own joy show through. Pure genius. (Picture book. 2-7)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from October 1, 2011

PreS-Gr 2-The premise of this book is simple; the execution is anything but. A child (Caucasian, of indeterminate gender) leaves a red sled outside the house one night, and an ever-growing group of animals borrows it for some snowy sliding fun. Having noticed the footprints, the child realizes what happened and waits to join the critters the next night. Pencil and watercolor spreads create a basic wintry mountain environment, but the stars of the show are the expressive animals. Their childlike delight in each dynamic scene brings a sense of excitement to the story. The text consists entirely of sound effects, laid out on the page in varying font sizes to evoke a sense of movement. The book begs to be read aloud and offers wonderful opportunities for audience participation. This delightful flight of fancy conveys the true excitement of sledding with the imagined fun of befriending wildlife. A gem.-Heidi Estrin, Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2012
One moonlit night, woodland animals borrow a child's sled and take it for a ride through the winter landscape. High-spirited pencil and watercolor illustrations tell the story without words, except for the exuberant cries of the sledders ("Alley-oop") and some strategically placed sound effects (e.g., the "scrinch scrunch scrinch scrunch" noise of someone walking in snow).

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)