cover image Fridge and Oven’s Big Job (Big Jobs)

Fridge and Oven’s Big Job (Big Jobs)

Steven Weinberg. Roaring Brook, $8.99 (22p) ISBN 978-1-250-75325-0

In this installment of the Big Jobs series, Weinberg focuses on the occupations of two googly eye–bedecked household appliances, Fridge and Oven. Simple prose introduces the kitchen apparatuses and their “big job: making cookies.” A pair of brown-skinned hands opens a cookbook, and plenty of arrows identify the relevant “important ingredients” that Fridge has been keeping cold (“maybe save the broccoli for later...” the text adds drolly). Oven’s work is up next, and a close-up cutaway shows the cookies on a tray, each with a red speech bubble reading “HOT!” Doodle-like digital art against a background of vivid orange provides visual amusement, while energetic, informative phrasing makes this a board book that will easily appeal to the appliance-obsessed. Publishing simultaneously: Dishwasher’s Big Job and Washer and Dryer’s Big Job. Ages up to 3. (Aug.)