A small pick-up truck suffers separation anxiety in this tale for fans of Little Toot, Katy, and other animated work machines. Little Truck happily tags along behind Big Truck, helping to haul farm produce to market over a busy highway and doing other tasks. Then Big Truck overstrains himself while moving a fallen tree and has to be towed to the shop, leaving Little Truck to shoulder the work. Both rumpled-looking trucks sport expressive headlight eyes and radiator mouths—and opaque windshields, so though they have human helpers to load and unload them, they seem to drive themselves. Gradually, remembering Big Truck’s instructions about highway driving and getting out of muddy patches, Little Truck begins to lose his apprehension and by the end is ready to welcome Big Truck back with pride and joy. The characters, situations, and art hark back to an antique picture-book tradition, but children of any generation will understand Little Truck’s feelings. (Picture book. 5-7)
