Little Blue Truck, by Alice Schertle

Schertle, Alice. Little Blue Truck. Illustrated by Jill McElmurry. Harcourt, 2008. 32 pages. $16.00, ISBN 978-0-15-205661-2

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.

I Am a Backhoe, by Anna Grossnickle Hines

Hines, Anna Grossnickle.  I Am a Backhoe.  Illustrated by Anna Grossnickle Hines. Tricycle Press, 2010. 32 pages. $12.99, ISBN 978-1-58246-306-3

AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year-olds

GENRE
Nonfiction

REVIEW

A happy toddler uses his whole body to dig, stretch, push, and roll, imagining himself to be a series of six trucks commonly used on construction sites.  Young children will enjoy trying out each movement themselves, and on subsequent readings, trying to remember the corresponding truck which appears on the page after each movement.  The images of the toddler are clear, yet just a tad too ordinary, so the background washes of various hues of primary and secondary colors add some welcome interest to the overall visual experience of the book.  The last several pages of the story focus on the themes of family togetherness and literacy, as the boy’s father joins in the play and pretends to be a flatbed truck, delivering his son to the couch so that they can read a book together.  Overall, this book’s combination of almost perfect pacing and positive themes, together with its encouragement of imaginative play and the development of gross motor skills, make it a winning choice for toddlers.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING
While reading the book aloud, encourage children to try the protagonist's moves themselves.  Follow this up with more motor skills practice using action rhymes.