Part concept book, part story, Carter's (Get to Work Trucks!) perky, thoughtfully executed offering reiterates the days of the week as it tracks a package sent on a Monday, brought to a ship on Tuesday, unloaded Wednesday and so on, until it is opened at a children's birthday party on Sunday. Short, active sentences suit the needs of a very young audience (Thursday: "Move it./ Stack it./ Don't lose it"), as does the emphasis on transportation. The package travels not only by mail truck and ship, but also rides on a forklift, plane, train and other conveyances, and, in a clever ending, the package turns out to contain a toy mail truck. Carter illustrates in his trademark style, constructing each scene with foam board and plaster, then painting with lusciously thick strokes in a bright palette, and then photographing it. His technique works best on the vehicles, which profit from the multidimensional treatment of the various components, but less well on the figures, which are rendered as flat. Accordingly, the initial spreads, which emphasize people and not transport, don't share the energy that animates most of the book. If not as uniformly dynamic as other works by Carter, this book picks up steam as it goes along; it's likely to carry the target audience through multiple readings. Ages 2-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

PreS-Gr 2-With engaging simplicity, this title delivers the goods as both a straightforward concept book and an effective easy-reader. It follows a package from its sender to its recipient throughout the course of a week. The story opens on Monday with "Wrap it. Tape it. Address it." The turn of the page shows a child at the post office and the text, "Send it." Carter's boldly colored artwork, made from foam board, drywall compound, and acrylic paint, captures all of the action as the box is shipped, stacked, flown, choo-chooed, and driven to its destination on Saturday and opened at a birthday party on Sunday. This satisfying offering will send young fans of all things mechanical into "read it again" overdrive and is sure to be a hit in community-helper units.-Luann Toth, School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Simple, minimal text follows a package as it's shipped via truck, boat, and plane from a boy in a snowy climate to another boy in a warm part of the world. Bright, distinctive illustrations done with foam board, drywall compound, and acrylic paint help fill in the slight story. From HORN BOOK Spring 2004, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

PreS-Gr. 2. Carter tracks a package on its journey through the postal system in this instructive book for preschoolers captivated by planes, trains, and automobiles. On Monday, a boy wraps up a box and takes it to the post office, where it's put into a mail truck. On Tuesday, a female forklift operator loads the box onto a boat: Lift it. / Balance it. / Don't drop it! By Thursday the package is flying, and by Friday it's on a train: Choo-choo it. Saturday is the delivery date; Sunday the boy's friend opens his gift--a toy mail truck! A blue X on the box allows children to locate it in each illustration, even peeking out of the airplane window. Carter creates his bold, textured, three-dimensional paintings with foam board, a drywall compound, and acrylic paint. Kids who may not have contemplated the multistep mailing process will gain new perspectives, especially since this concerns something dear to any child's heart--the arrival of a birthday present. --Karin Snelson Copyright 2003 Booklist