THE TRUCKER

Paintings reminiscent of photographs illustrate a young boy’s trucking dreams. Wesley plays in a room scattered with toy cars, trucks, and copies of the illustrator’s earlier books when something amazing happens: his red semi-flatbed grows into a full-sized truck. He hooks up his rig to two trailers of lumber and zooms away, honking his horn for the children at the bus stop, listening to the CB radio, and helping a stranded yellow service truck—which looks just like a full-grown version of one of his toys. When a blinding rain comes and Wesley’s truck blows out a tire, that same service truck stops to lend a hand. The service truck leads Wesley through the rain to his destination, a lumber yard. Wesley’s adventure has all been an exciting dream, but when he wakes up, he’s ready to spend an exciting day with Daddy on Daddy’s big rig. Unexciting prose is enlivened by heavily textured, light-filled acrylics that emphasize the dream-like nature. (Picture book. 3-5)