AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year olds
GENRE
Picture book
REVIEW
Little Blue is a friendly and helpful pick-up truck who lives on a farm amidst rolling hills and fields of wheat. As the story opens, Blue is driving down a country road beeping his hellos to all his friends, whose return greetings of "baaa!", "moo!", "oink!" and other animal sounds are all printed in various colors of bolded text. Suddenly, a huge yellow dump truck rudely barrels past Blue, and then promptly gets stuck in the mud. Only Blue steps up to help "the Dump", getting stuck himself in the process. Unlike the Dump's calls for help, however, those of the beloved Blue are heeded by all the animals, and they come to his aid. The book's illustrations were created with gouache on watercolor paper, with lots of shading, creating a rich canvas of yellows, reds, browns, greens, and blues. The repetition of various words, short rhyming sentences, and large type make this book appropriate for 1 and 2 year-olds, but the story will also be enjoyable for 3 and 4 year olds. A valuable message about the benefits of taking the time to build friendships.
LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This book could be read aloud at a toddler storytime, along with related books such as I Am a Backhoe by Anna Grossnickle Hines and Trucks Roll!, by George Ella Lyon.
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