Customer Reviews

My Little Yellow Taxi

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To succeed in the world of children's book publishing, an author/artist needs to exhibit a certain level of flexibility. If your first book for kids is a rousing success you may certainly coast on that for a while, but eventually you'll want to expand your horizons. The best artists out there, be they Paul O. Zelinsky, Maurice Sendak, or Faith Ringgold, know how to switch gears and try entirely new things. I mention all this because I cannot wrap my head around the books of Stephen T. Johnson. If flexibility is a talent then this man's a veritable contortionist. Look at his past for a moment. He puts out "Alphabet City" and "City By Numbers" which were realistic and industrial and clever. Then at the same time there's "My Little Blue Robot" and "My Little Red Toolbox", which made the idea of an interactive book more tangible than ever before. Turn around again and he's putting out "Hoops", "Love As Strong As Ginger" and "The Tie Man's Miracle", with yet another different look. Finally we come to 2006. On the one hand Mr. Johnson paired with Diane Siebert to put out the magnificently reviewed, "Tour America: A Journey Through Poems and Art". Then you turn around again and in the same year is "My Little Yellow Taxi". "Taxi", truth be told, will encounter far more fans than "Tour America" if only be deint of its amusing premise. As long as you are able to break-in the book before your kid gets ahold of it AND you find a way to keep all the pieces together, this may well be the best loved title your entling ever receives.

The book puts the child reader in the driver's seat of a taxi cab. Literally. Kids are given the chance to operate their very own car. They can check their tire pressure with a removable gauge. They can look in the glove compartment, adjust the shiny shiny mirror, and even place the key in the ignition. This being a taxi and all, kids can also set the fare box so that the taxi is available for rides. Then, as you reach the back of the book, there is a little removable taxi just waiting to be driven over, under, around, and about for the car-loving child's pleasure. Part book, part interactive toy, what "My Little Taxi" achieves is the ability to make books fun for book-phobic little ones.

The nice thing about the title is that aside from the fare box, kids that read this book needn't be familiar with what a taxi cab is. Just as long as they've seen a car, they'll be happy. And trust me, cars are a continual fascination for some little ones. Often I'll find myself directing children under the age of three to the car section of the library so that they can stare in wonder at the pictures of shiny automobiles. Put this book in their hands and their interest immediately skyrockets. Of course, in watching kids play with this book I've determined that left to their own devices, these future drivers of America haven't the clearest of ideas on what to do with each page. For example, one kid removed the tire gauge and proceeded to move it about the carpet, making little "vroom vroom" sounds as he did so. Another took the car key and did his darndest to start the tires. With adults at their side, however, this book is a perfect learning tool. Not only is it accurate (albeit with a slightly outdated yellow cab as its guide) but you haven't lived until you've sat in a room of ten librarians all playing "car" and waiting their turn to have a go at it.

The objection to Johnson's "My Little" books in the past is the quality of the construction. "My Little Taxi", unfortunately, is no different. The book is simultaneously too well put together in some parts, and too poorly constructed in others. Take, for example, the driver's side door. In one book the door broke clean off of the book itself on a first read, leaving at least one library patron more than a little perturbed. On the opposite side of the spectrum, my co-workers and I were convinced for a very long time that not all the doors in this book actually opened. The glove compartment, for example, seemed welded in place. After some extraordinary tugging and pulling and swearing and crying, however, we were finally able to wrest that little door open. So my advice to you is this: Find the strongest person you know and prior to handing this book to a child make them open every door, window, and tab allowed. Once an item is removed from the book it slides in and out with relative ease. Otherwise I doubt very much that the strength in your four-year-old's arm is going to make much of a dent here.

Now, we have a circulating copy of "My Little Taxi" in my library. This may or may not be a mistake. Many of the parts in this book are small. There's a section that shows kids three different street signs, all of which are removable and all of which are small enough to lose. The problem with "My Little Robot" (aside from the fact that if you placed a heavy object on top of it you'd hear it squeal) was the missing components. I like to think that this will be less of a problem with "My Little Taxi", but keep a sharp eye out at all times just in case.

No, it's not perfect. No toy with removable parts is perfect. I can't imagine why a book should be any different. However, I will tell you that exactly one hour after I placed a copy of this book in my library's display window, a patron walked up to me demanding the title immediately. When I told her that our circulating copies were all checked out she almost begged me to remove the display copy so that her daughter could see it. The book's a hit with everyone and it pretty much constitutes a sure-fire 100% hit with any and all children under the age of 6 (some would say 8) you hand it to. Worth the clean-up.

My boys loved the little red toolbox--My Little Yellow Taxi did not disappoint! The pieces are pretty stiff initially, but are so much fun for them to play pretend with. Like the toolbox, the book is cardboard, so it does wear. But that does not deter them from filling the taxi up with gas, or using the key to start the engine. A great book for car trips!

My 4 year old loves, loves this book. I also got it for a playmate who is 4 years old, and reported back he also loves this book. It is SUCH fun it is hard for the children to be gentle with it, and it is only cardboard. My kudos for making "just a book" so strong, but even so, it can handle only so much abuse. I do have to put it away when younger children come over, because it has suffered mishaps and I've had to repair it. I would definately wait until your child can "care" properly for a book before getting this one.

My son loves this book! We got it a year ago after he turned three. It has survived the year and is still a favorite. It is very well made and extremely entertaining!

I ordered this book since I am going to a Children's Book workshop this Summer and the author is speaking. Very cleaver book with lots of moving parts and good language use. Great fun to share with a grandson.

My Little Yellow Taxi was rated as "very good". When it arrived the frame on the glove box page was not attached. For "very good", I would expect the book to be all in one piece. The product should have been rated "good" not "very good" in my opinion. This will make me hesitant to trust the ratings. Up to this point I have been very satisfied.

My grand children love this book. I just wish it were more durable! This is the second one I've bought and there's another grandchild on the way. I've purchased some of the other books by this author and they seem to be hits with the grand kids as well!

The colors and the interactive pieces invite the child to touch and to participate. The story line is a bit lame, but my child truly enjoys using all the pieces on each page. I paid less than the publisher's price which made this a good value.

I bought this book for my first grandson when he was 2 ... and yes, he was just a little young for it. But he loved it. Two years later it's battered, ripped, missing parts ... We can no longer check our oil, or fasten our seatbelts. We've lost the snacks in the glove compartment, and I'm not sure where the key is to start the taxi. I think this is my fault, because I gave it to him when he was so young. It really is a pretty sturdy book ... and he still pulls it out fairly often when he comes to grandma's house.

I've got 6 grandchildren now and they all read this book. The trunk still opens and the steering wheel still turns, and we can still fill it up with gas. I'm going to order another one now, and retire the first one. I definitely got my money's worth out of that first one. I would recommend this book to anyone who has little kids who like cars. It is truly interactive ... and although the reading is a little wordy, we make up our own stories as we read it, which is much more fun. We take the taxi to the fair, to the beach, and even to visit relatives.

My son got this for Christmas and he is tottaly in ov with it!! It is a great book to take to church that keeps him buisy and active in somthing that is quite and keeps him sitting still. It shows him how to take care of a car, he will even ask me about when things need to bedone to our cars. It is great!! He is really involved with the book and the taxi!!