Books with 'vroom!'

I was visiting a preschool recently, when a small freckled boy I’ll call “Sam,” walked up to me clutching a board book in the shape of a truck.

“Read dis one,” said the confident Sam, holding the book out to me.

“Well, your teacher’s asked me to read this one first,” I said, referring to my own picture book. “How about I read the truck book next; sound good?”

“No. Twucks first,” Sam replied, plopping the book into my lap and plunking down on the rug in front of me.

Never wanting to displease an audience, I began to read the truck book to the class. About 45 seconds later, I was done.

“Now, are we ready to hear the piggy book?” I asked cheerfully.

“Uh-uh,” came the voice of a little curly-headed girl from the rug. “Read that one again!”

Yes, the trucks upstaged the piggies, and if I were an insecure author plagued by the peskiness of ego, I’d be concerned. But I’m also a mom and a story hour host—and therefore, I’m well aware of the universal kid fascination with “things that go.” Be they trucks, tractors, steam shovels, trains, planes or automobiles – children are like moths to a flame when there’s a little “vroom-vroom” in the room.

True, boys especially dig the diggers and such; but many a little girl, too, has been known to alight in the white lightening stripes of “Lightening McQueen” or cheer for that little engine that most certainly could.

Which brings me to this week’s book topic: my favorite car and truck books ever.

And away we go!

“Trucktown” series, by Jon Scieszka; illustrated by David Shannon, Loren Long and David Gordon (Simon and Schuster)

This is one of those ideas so brilliant, it begs the question: why didn’t someone think of this before? The brainchild of the incomparable Jon Scieszka (a talented children’s author and the first-ever appointed “Ambassador of Young People’s Literature” by the Library of Congress), these books feature a cast of heavy metal machines specifically designed to reflect the personalities and experiences of 4 and 5 year-olds. Characters including the prankster “Jack Truck,” dependable “Dump Truck Dan,” nervous “Cement Mixer Melvin,” confident and sociable “Gabriella Garbage Truck,” clumsy “Rosie Wrecker,” and firecracker fire truck twins “Lucy Ladder” and “Pumper Pat” (to name just a few) offer something every child can relate to. And with award winning illustrators lending their art to Scieszka’s rhythmic rollicking text—it’s a match made in “truck heaven.”

“Katy and The Big Snow” and “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” by Virginia Lee Burton (Sandpiper)

First published in 1939, Burton’s books are classics that remain in print and continue to capture young readers’ hearts and imaginations. Burton was the master at anthropomorphizing inanimate objects and bringing them to life in charming triumphant tales. In “Katy and the Big Snow,” a little red snow plow saves the town after the city of “Geoppolis” becomes “covered with a thick blanket of snow.” Katy chug-chug-chugs her way through the city, rescuing the mayor, the postmaster and the chief of police among others.

A similar theme of perseverance and heroics can be found in “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel,” but with an added comment on not devaluing something just because it is old or old-fashioned—a theme that undoubtedly became the inspiration for contemporary children’s book hits such as Loren Long’s “Otis.”

“I Stink!” and “I’m Dirty!” by Kate and Jim McMullan (Harper Collins) If you haven’t already, you must introduce your kids to these two irresistible tales of wise-cracking trucks in New York City. Featuring a garbage truck and a backhoe loader, the pages snap and pop with hilarious trash talkin', dirt shovelin' jargon. They are among my children’s favorite read-alouds, and always a hit at story hour.

“Cars and Trucks and Things That Go,” by Richard Scarry (Golden Books)

Richard Scarry’s books offer a feast for young eyes, with a plethora of detail and action on each page. In this book, the Pig family takes a road trip to the beach for a picnic. The road is packed with hundreds of cars and trucks, vans and motorcycles, tractors and buses. The Pigs find chaos and adventure on the way to the beach and the opportunity to see vehicles they have never seen before. Another classic car and truck book that will have kids turning the pages to see more!

“Sheep In A Jeep,” by Nancy Shaw; illustrated by Margot Apple (HMH Books) The title alone sold me on this book. I mean, what’s not to like? With a shiny red jeep, a cast of bumbling sheep, and great rhymes such as "Beep! Beep! Sheep in a jeep on a hill that's steep,” you’ve got instant read-aloud fun.