For truck lovers everywhere.
A day in the life of a truck stop as told by its youngest worker, whose love for the place is very clear.
A little boy and his parents start out before the sun is up to go to work at their busy truck stop beside the highway. The routine of their day will soothe readers: They prep the food, Uncle Marty opens the garage, and they wait for the regulars to make an appearance. “I love how they come rumbling their wheels, / and with air brakes whooshing.” Sam and Eighteen-Wheeler are first. Uncle Marty checks tires while Mom puts in Sam’s usual order. It’s coffee and doughnuts for Maisie, who drives Milk Tank. Then come Diligent Dan’s Moving Van and Digger riding on Flatbed. But where is Green Gus, the old pickup? Once Pete and Priscilla arrive in their Tow Truck, it’s time for the boy to board Big Yellow Bus. Along the way, he spies Green Gus. Pete and Priscilla come to the rescue, and Uncle Marty gets to work. The trucks and drivers go their separate ways, but only until tomorrow. Iwai’s mixed-media collage illustrations invite readers into the scenes with their bright colors and interesting textures. While a truck stop is a business, the text and artwork together spin a web around the boy and his family that make it seem quite homey, complete with good friends and good food.
For truck lovers everywhere. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: May 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-670-06261-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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BOOK REVIEW
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do.
Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from “Cement Mixer”: “No time to wait; / he can’t sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden.” Slonim’s trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures—Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in “Bulldozer”: “He’s not a bully, either, / although he’s big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough.” A few trucks’ jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: “Skid-Steer Loader” focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but “Semi” runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing.
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5078-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
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