Toolbox Twins [Hardcover]

Lola M. Schaefer (Author), Melissa Iwai (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2006 | Age Level: 3 and up

Join in the fun with this father-son fix-it team

 

Vincent and his daddy are a fix-it team. One by one they use the trusty tools in their toolboxes—from hammers and nails to saws and shears—and make repairs around the house.

Engaging rhymes and playful illustrations introduce young children to the popular subject of tools and the concept of making broken things new again.

 

Toolbox Twins is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2–In this pleasant rhyming book, a father and son are shown using the implements in their trusty toolboxes. Each verse describes two items and jobs they can do, with particular attention paid to the accompanying sounds: With hammers and nails,/they bang and tap…/steps that squeak,/stools that creak. Acrylic paintings in mostly primary colors show Dad and Vincent making repairs indoors and out. Large sans serif letters make the text easy to read, and the names of the featured implements are set in bold colors. The cozy pictures perfectly depict a father-son bonding experience, while giving a lesson on identifying common household tools. Taro Miura's Tools (Chronicle, 2006) shows a larger variety of equipment, while this book has more of a story. Purchase it if you need more titles for budding fix-it guys or father-and-son stories.–Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The toolbox twins, Vincent and his dad, work together around the house. Both have boxes stocked with the tools they will need for a variety of jobs. In a representative scene, Vincent sits on the kitchen counter, working on the wheel of his toy car with a little wrench. His father uses a wrench and pliers on the pipes beneath the sink: "With pliers and wrenches, / they turn and tighten . . . / pipes that drip, / bolts that slip." Each turn of the page brings a new rhyme with either a double-page illustration or two pictures on facing pages showing the father and son at work. Colorful acrylic paintings illustrate the rhyming text in a simple, direct manner, focusing on the companionable pair and how each toolbox twin uses familiar household tools. This isn't a tool-identification guide but rather a book celebrating the solid satisfaction of working with a parent and doing a useful job. The many preschoolers who are fascinated by tools will adore this. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (August 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805077332
• ISBN-13: 978-0805077339
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 9.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,214,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for indoctrinating your 2 - 3 year olds into outdated gender norms, January 20, 2012

By 

Justin Bastow - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toolbox Twins (Hardcover)

My son loved this book, the text of which is a playful introduction to different types of tools and what they are used for. For some reason, however, the illustrations seem determined to convey that using tools is exclusively for men and boys. The mother and daughter in the background of the illustrations are either passive (generally wearing pink) or doing dishes, but never get to go near the tools. I would not read the book to my daughter, who I want to encourage to do and be whatever she wants. I also have serious reservations about having read it to my son so many times, because I don't want him to absorb these subliminal pre-1960s gender norms.

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Adorable, September 19, 2009

By 

J. Todd (Centreville, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toolbox Twins (Hardcover)

My two year old son LOVES this book. It is the perfect book for father and son to read together. We read it every day.