An inventive and charming bedtime story.
It’s time to sleep; it’s time to dream.
When it’s time for bed, get ready for a visit from the Nice Dream Truck, bringing a nearly endless supply of possible dreams guaranteed to open the mind to wonders. Ferry employs lilting verse in second person to encourage little dreamers to choose their nighttime visions. They might be big dreams or small, funny or a bit scary—nothing is impossible. Perhaps there are puppies, princesses, dragons, whales, birthdays, magic, or music. You can be an astronaut or a rock star, a firefighter or a doctor. The use of the word nice in relation to these dreams does not match the enthusiasm and excitement of the descriptions, which are more fantastic than that prosaic word conveys. Barrager’s bright, busy illustrations carry out the visions with joyful delight in dreamscapes that float and soar. The title vehicle is decked out as an ice cream truck, replete with a giant strawberry cone on the top, and driven by a brown-skinned “girl with stars in her eyes” and purple pigtails who is ready to serve up your dream of choice. The ice cream metaphor is carried throughout the text and illustrations, comparing choices of scoops and toppings to selecting the dreams. The cast of dreaming children is diverse in race and gender, and they are completely comfortable with one another. It is soothing, uplifting, and definitely upbeat but perhaps a bit too sugar-sweet. Grown-ups will find much to discuss with their little ones about their dreams.
An inventive and charming bedtime story. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-290783-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An uplifting tale that will especially resonate with truck mavens.
In this follow-up to Trash Truck (2020), two good pals keep on truckin’.
Donny, a raccoon, and Walter, a bear, are besties who do everything together, from taking care of dental hygiene (hilariously, Donny brushes using a tree branch, while Walter flosses with a bootlace) to savoring a light dumpster breakfast to taking a bit of exercise (such as running from a swarm of angry bees after Walter steals their honey). “Clever and crafty” Donny and Walter are into subterfuge: To trick a vendor into selling them ice cream, Walter dons an overcoat, and Donny, sporting a fedora, rides atop the bear’s shoulders. Life’s good—except these two have no one to play with. Jump rope’s no fun; if each of them holds one end of the rope, no one can jump. Seesawing is unequally balanced, weight-wise. They don’t have much luck searching for friends, but, ever optimistic, they continue looking. Then, when least expected, two great buddies literally pick them up: It’s Trash Truck and young, blond, pale-skinned Hank! And what adventures follow! Donny and Walter can now jump rope, and the “disguised” ice cream buyers now order four cones. Whether or not readers are already familiar with Trash Truck and Hank from the previous book, they’re in for sprightly fun; the cartoony color illustrations, featuring endearing characters, are filled with giggle-worthy sight gags. Background humans are diverse.
An uplifting tale that will especially resonate with truck mavens. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780063349414
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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