This is one road kids will be happy to travel again.
There’s no crew like a familiar crew! Rinker’s perpetually cheery vehicles are back to build a road.
From construction crew to road crew, the intrepid heroes that first made their appearance in Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (2011), have returned yet again, with Ford illustrating, as he has since 2018. In this new iteration, the team has settled in a land of mesas, cacti, and scrub. Joined by new vehicles Compacter, Scraper, Grader, Roller, Striper, Water Truck, and Paver, they are given plans to construct a route “from here…to there,” and there’s not a moment to lose. After all, this isn’t just any road. It’s a “SUPERHIGHWAY, MEGA ROAD!” The rhyming text follows each piece of equipment as they do their part in paving the dusty landscape. In the course of a day (or so it would appear) the road is finished. That cars and trucks are able to use it immediately strains at the tensile strength of adult credulity, but construction-loving tots won’t care a jot. And conflict-averse youngsters needn’t worry, as not a thing goes wrong. To offset some of the natural concerns regarding the construction of superhighways, the book takes care to include wildlife crossings within the illustrations and adds an explanation at the end about their necessity. Vehicles are identified with both male and female pronouns throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This is one road kids will be happy to travel again. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-79720-472-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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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