More Than One Way . . .

Decades ago, more than truckers had CB radios in their vehicles.  This was a time before mobile or cell phones.  CB radios provided a sense of security in case of an emergency. (My handle was Book Mama.)  The conversations between truckers were entertaining and informative.  They would often alert drivers of traffic congestion and alternate routes to follow.  Truckers would honk their horns when it was safe to pass and flash their lights when it was good to move back into a lane.  Travelers got the sense they were a part of a highway group who would look out for each other.

Truckers haul goods within a neighborhood, a state, or from one side of the country to another.  They are essential connectors.  In Big Truck Little Island (Candlewick Press, May 3, 2022) written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, a truck becomes the focus of an unexpected complication.  It is children who propose the obvious.

Out on the ocean, one bright summer day,

bound for an island, still five miles away,

a tugboat was towing a truck on a barge---

a truck that was hauling a load, extra large.

The load on the truck was covered, hidden from sight.  After the barge docked on one side of the island, the truck needed to reach the opposite side, an eastern meadow, by traversing a narrow winding road.  Progress was slow, the load weighed twenty plus tons.

The driver was at the beginning of his route when a switchback threw him a curve.  The twenty-plus-ton load shifted and the trailer was no longer under his control.  As luck would have it, the trailer stuck fast in the mud, but now the road was blocked.

Soon four cars, two from the north and two from the south, wanted to pass.  Meg, Barry, Pete, and Sue had things to do.  Parents with patience waning waited.  Meg, Barry, Pete, and Sue left their vehicles and gathered.  They devised a perfect plan.  

As friends and neighbors, they knew what to do.  So, a swim meet, ballet practice, science project, and dog wash were attended on time.  What happened to the truck, you ask?  Like the barge brought it to the island, a wrecker pulled it clear.  That night, the load on the truck's trailer was disclosed to the islanders.  It was a marvelous sight.

Whether read silently or aloud, the words penned by Chris Van Dusen create a lively, inviting cadence.  His rhyming couplets freely flow, forming a tale of cleverness and community.  His definitive word choices take us to a memorable place and time.  Here is a passage.

The trailer was tipping, everything slipping!

The wheels in the way back were no longer gripping!

They skidded and slid off the road and then---

Rendered in gouache, the full color artwork by Chris Van Dusen we see first on the open and matching dust jacket and book case gives us on the front, right side, the dilemma the truck driver and neighbors face.  To the left of the spine, on the back, on a cornflower blue background is an oval image.  On the white canvas, Barry, Meg, Pete, and Sue are assessing the situation and discussing a solution.  The title text on the jacket is varnished.

The pale yellow in the sky on the front of the jacket and case and in the title text is used for the opening and closing endpapers.  A luminescent image precedes the title page.  A blazing sun in a yellow sky fashions a shimmering path on the waterway.  In the distance along the horizon, the tugboat is pulling the truck and trailer on the barge.  With a page turn a double-page picture spreads between the verso and title pages.  We have moved up close to the tug, barge, truck and trailer.  On the far right we can see the island coming into view.  Dolphins dive on the right side of the vehicles as if to guide them.  Seagulls act as guardians.

Chris Van Dusen alternates between double-page images, full-page visuals, and smaller illustrations set in white space.  His representations of the four children waiting in their cars with visions of where they must be are fabulous.  They are set against the rocky walls rising on the side of the road.

His perspectives are stunning, offering us a gorgeous bird's eye view of the island and then we find ourselves feeling as though we are a passenger in the truck when the load shifts, dragging it over the edge of the road.  We experience the shock of the driver, the driver with a MOM tattoo on his arm.  His canine companion looks at the back, equally shocked by the sound.

The hues in his illustrations are breathtaking in their realism.  Near photographic details bring us deeply into the narrative.  Wildlife is present as is island flora like lupines.  The facial expressions on all the characters supply us with a clear understanding of their emotions. 

One of my many favorite illustrations is of Sue, her sheepdog Bunk and her Mom stopped by the truck crossing the road.  Sue is imaging Bunk at the dog wash.  He had a meeting with a skunk.  Sue's mom has a clothespin on her nose.  Sue is plugging her nose with her fingers as Bunk squeezes through the open window next to her.  Bunk is happy as the proverbial clam.

This book, Big Truck Little Island written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, is based on a real event.  An author's note describes the incident.  If you are seeking a story about community and cooperation, this title is a brilliant choice.  Readers will gasp at the last double-page image.  I highly recommend this title for both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Chris Van Dusen and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  You will enjoy the informative Q &A section.  Chris Van Dusen has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  At the publisher's website, you can download an activity kit and a teacher's guide.  At Penguin Random House, you can view interior illustrations.

A New Definition

At every point in our lives the term old takes on a different meaning.  At twelve years, we are old to a newborn, but to our grandparents we are a youngster.  It seems for great periods of our lives we are not old enough. Then in what seems like seconds, we are too old.

Words synonymous with old can give it different meanings.  It can refer to age, antiquated or established, familiar and solid.  It is this last comparison which appears in the pages of The Old Truck (Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton and Company, January 7, 2020) written and illustrated by brothers Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey.  In this title readers discover old can mean home.

On a small farm, an old truck worked hard.

It worked for hours during the day and through the seasons of many years.  As time passed the truck struggled to keep working.  It needed to pause.  In that pause, there were dreams.

In those dreams the truck became a scientific ship exploring the seas, a plane seeking new heights and a vehicle traversing a unique celestial landscape.  The old truck got older and older.  Life very nearly enveloped it where it sat.

One day the hard work and long hours continued, but there was a new farmer.  This new farmer, like the old truck, struggled to keep working.  She did not pause, but she dreamed.  In those dreams, like the dreams that came before, old became new.  It was, after all, about tenacity and attitude.


There are books you read again and again and again for different reasons.  In the writing of Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey for this book, those multiple readings reveal numerous stories depending on the person holding the book.  Their text, beautiful in its simplicity, is an open invitation.  The repetition of key words is like a soothing refrain tying the generations together.  The following sentence opens numerous possibilities and brings the narrative full circle.

So the old truck rested (page turn)

and dreamed.  


The open dust jacket reveals an extension of the image from left to right.  The portion of the illustration on the left is a reverse of that on the right.  The truck is facing left and the girl on the tailgate has her back to us.  We can see a large full sun between two clouds on the left, also.  It is here on the jacket that the color palette is introduced to readers.  The use of these colors, lighter or darker, brings a calming continuity throughout the book.

On the book case Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey used a heavy paper in cream and golden celery green for the wide spine.  On the front the truck is embossed into the case. Children and children at heart love to run their fingers over texture.  It seems to create a stronger tie between reader and story.

A pale, pale hue of their chosen blue covers the opening and closing endpapers.  The brothers designed more than 250 stamps to make the art for this book.  Each page turn discloses the genius of their design.

For example, on the first single-page picture after the opening endpapers we see a scene of a young corn field, sky with clouds, flowers along the bottom, a pathway and the back of the new barn being built.  On the next double-page image the barn continues, as does the pathway.  The wife, soon to be a mother, is picking flowers as her husband carries lumber toward the front of the barn.  The old truck is sitting in front of their home.  The tree next to the house is a sapling.  The next page turn is the verso and title pages.

As you study and enjoy each illustration you can see elements the brothers have added depending on the time of day, season of the year and age of the little girl.  In this book, the brothers have fashioned a beautiful story of family and a commitment to hard work and ingenuity in their artwork.  For each sentence of their text, their illustrations add layers to the words.  Their wordless visuals are powerful.  All their pictures apart from the first and last ones are double-page illustrations.

One of my many, many favorite images is when the girl, now a young woman, is working late inside the barn.  From left to right we are inside the barn except for the open doorway for about two-thirds of the right side.  The young woman, with her back to us, is wearing blue jeans and a white and red large, polka-dotted blouse.  Her long black hair is braided, tied with a red ribbon and lays along her back.  She is standing in front of a work bench, hard at work on something we cannot see.  Above her, hanging on the wall, are a pitchfork, a coil of rope and a wooden ladder.  A large overhead lamp casts a warm glow.  Outside the barn sits the old truck.  Above it is a dark sky replete with stars and a full moon.  The truck is very old, now, rusty brown with age.  The hood is up.


With every reading of The Old Truck written and illustrated by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey readers will be enthralled with the harmony found in the words and illustrations.  Underneath the pastoral scenes is a thread of perseverance, a sense of dedication to work and the accomplishments it brings.  And there is love, in its many forms.  You will want to have a copy of this title on your professional and personal bookshelves. 

To learn more about Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their website.  At this website you can see how the work is progressing on the old truck purchased by Jarrett Pumphrey.  Jarrett Pumphrey has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Jerome Pumphrey has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Their visit to author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast is a must read.  There is lots of process art presented.  The brothers are also interviewed at The Horn Book with Roger Sutton and at NPR Special Series Picture This as part of Weekend Edition Sunday.

Imagination On The Run

Some go through their entire childhood without one.  Parents and parental figures have any number of excuses or as they say, truth-filled reasonable replies.  It stands to reason in this timeless conflict, over thousands of years, there is a trail of squashed dreams held by younger gals and guys.  They have all wanted a pet; for many of them, specifically a puppy.

Rather than succumb to disappointment, there are special sorts of souls who have ignited their imaginations.  Puppy Truck (Atheneum Books For Young Readers, June 25, 2019) written and illustrated by Brian Pinkney follows a young boy whose mind bridges the gap between hoping and having.  It's exuberant optimism.

Carter wanted a puppy.

Carter did not get a puppy.  Carter received a truck.  He decided to make the best of the situation, put a leash on this truck and gave it some loving pats.  As they started to move it sounded like a combination of a truck and a puppy.

Vroom beep bark!

An impish gray squirrel darted next to the truck on their way to the park.  The truck roared to the challenge.  Carter yelled.  The truck raced right out of the leash.  It was gone!

Fortunately, a girl at the park stood on a bench and sighted the puppy truck.  There is nothing sweeter than a child reunited with their new best friend.  For the rest of the day, that truck carried that boy and together they pursued that troublesome squirrel, delighting in the chase.

Covered in dirt, they both splashed in the sudsy bathtub at home.  Inseparable they snacked and then snoozed. At the sand box the next day in the park, Carter and his puppy truck encountered a friendly surprise.


Using concise, precise words designed for the youngest readers Brian Pinkney presents a problem in the first two sentences and with the glass-is-half-full outlook prevalent in children, Carter has a solution in the third sentence.  This is instantly appealing.  When you add the sound effects, it's an open invitation to join the story.

It's interesting when Carter decides to abandon using the leash how the shared enjoyment increases.  Readers will appreciate the "truckish" language used in the narrative.  Here is a passage.

They were so hungry,
they ate some nuts and bolts.

Chomp
chomp
chomp munch


The choice to work with primary colors against the pale yellow canvas on the open and matching dust jacket and book case (and throughout the book) draws readers' attention quickly to Carter and his puppy truck.  Brian Pinkney's signature movements are present; the joyful upward flow of elements.  Carter's smile tells a story itself. 

To the left, on the back, beneath the words

Vroom beep bark!

Carter is kneeling on the back of Puppy Truck as they speed down a hill.  You couldn't ask for two happier pals.  On the opening and closing endpapers Brian Pinkney extends his story.  On the first, over the grassy landscape dotted with clumps of green, the gray squirrel scampers toward the right edge.  For a split second, on the closing endpapers the gray squirrel is sitting upright, resting before it's off to tantalize some new unsuspecting being.

Rendered in acrylic and India ink on Canson paper the illustrations are bold and bright filling much of the page with the child and his pet.  Carter is brimming with energy; ready to greet the day and so is his puppy truck.  Many of the pictures span two pages to show this exhilaration these two feel in each other's company as they embrace every moment totally.  There is not a picture in this entire book that is not emotionally charged.  Every line and brush stroke are fluid and free.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  On the pale yellow background, a big sandbox covers a large area along the bottom.  Sitting on the left is Carter.  His legs are moving, and his hands are raised.  He is laughing. (You'll almost be able to hear it.)  Near him and moving across the gutter is Puppy Truck.  It's gleefully saying

BARK!

Briefly seated on the far right is the gray squirrel looking astonished at not being followed. 


The pure bliss in Puppy Truck written and illustrated by Brian Pinkney is certain to lift your spirits and surround you in happiness.  The fact this child is able to use his imagination to make his dream a realization is the best kind of story.  You could pair this book with A Pet for Petunia, The Pet Project or The Grumpy Pets, and Some Pets for a storytime extravaganza on pets.  This is a charming title to add to your professional and personal collections for your younger gals and guys.

To learn more about Brian Pinkney and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  At the publisher's website you can view several interior images.

Build-It Buddies

Given the popularity of empty boxes in all shapes and sizes, small wooden blocks, and LEGO bricks with children, creativity and the urge to build are evident at all ages.  If scrap lumber, large scavenged sticks and stones are available, forts and tree houses will be assembled.  It's not just that they like to create and build, but the sense of satisfaction at completing the work is immeasurable.  Even as adults the inventive spirit will remain strong if nurtured.

Not only do these resourceful souls like to fashion new items but they enjoy watching others do the same thing.  There is a certain fascination in observing a dollhouse, home, skyscraper, boat, or model airplane take shape.  For this reason in May of 2011 Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site acquainting us with movers and shapers, Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer and Excavator, found a place in readers' hearts.  A companion title, Mighty, Mighty Construction Site (Chronicle Books, February 14, 2017) written by Sherri Duskey Rinker with illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld reunites readers with these fond friends.

Down in the big construction site,
five trucks wake to morning light.
It's time to S-T-R-E-T-C-H, roll out of bed,
and gear up for the day ahead!

These pals don't waste a single second, shaking off their slumber and getting ready to go.  A new enormous job is on their agenda.  They've never worked on a task this large.  Cement Mixer hollers with his horn for reinforcements.  It echoes from the city to the country.

Trucks start to roar down the road; friends in need, friends indeed.  Now the group numbers ten.  It's time to get busy; two by two that's what they do.

This work is tough but little Skid Steer shows her stuff, shattering stones for her best buddy, Bulldozer.  Nearby another twosome does a dig and drop dance laying pipe.  Crane Truck lifts and lifts and then astonished learns, everything required is gone.  In the nick of time rumbling into the site Mighty Flatbed carries more.

Great piles of dirt are scooped and carried by friendly companions.  The guy who called the extra crew needs help at new heights.  Concrete is lifted up, up, and up some more.  Pumper's boom pours and pours.   What was large was made small by all ten trucks giving it their all.  As the sun sets five head down the highway home.  Five trucks, five friends, under a crescent moon, stay and soon...sleep.


As soothing as a lullaby but as lively as a brisk breeze Sherri Duskey Rinker wraps her rhythmic words around readers.  We gladly rise and shine with these trucks and the others who heed the call.  Every two lines, like the partners who tackle this task, two words rhyme; never missing a beat.  Alliteration is used with skill, word choices consistent with the setting and story.  Here are some more sample sentences.

Rolling, rumbling, revving hard,
ten big trucks meet in the yard.
A mighty, massive SUPERCREW---
there is nothing they can't do!


The happiness on the "faces" of all ten trucks waiting on the multi-levels of dirt around Excavator as he cradles the new-day sun on the opened and matching dust jacket and book case is sure to spread to readers of all ages.  To the left, on the back, Crane Truck is lifting the block holding the ISBN.  On the two-tone rustic, golden orange opening and closing endpapers truck tire tracks of various designs zig-zag across the pages.

Warm shades of red spread a glow across the two-page image for the title page as the sun rises.  The man in the building near the construction site who yelled about the noise of Dump Truck's snores in the first book, shouts out a

Hey! Wake Up!

to the dozing trucks.  Rendered in Neocolor wax oil pastels on Mi-Teintes paper with digital fine-tuning by Kristen Cella the texture of the illustrations on the matte-finished paper invites you to touch the pages.

Every page turn usually reveals a double-page picture, page edge to page edge.  On many of these Tom Lichtenheld will place another framed smaller visual, sometimes two or even four.  His color palette is in keeping with the setting but his light and shading bring a cheerful luminescence to all the illustrations.  No one makes trucks as lovable as he does with their facial expressions and added details like Crane Truck and his teddy bear.  Careful readers will also notice the return of the little red bird, the blanket on top of Cement Mixer and the "pillow" upon which Bulldozer rests.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when the five trucks are lined up and moving along to the construction site in the early morning light.  Crane Truck is carrying the rolled up plan on the far left.  In front of him, left to right, are Cement Mixer, Bulldozer, Excavator and Dump Truck.  Behind them is a faint outline of the cityscape in purple backed by golden puffs of clouds on the palest blue sky.  The only thing missing is the soft sound of engines running.  If you listen closely, you might hear them.


Readers are going walk around hugging this latest title, Mighty, Mighty Construction Site, written by Sherri Duskey Rinker with illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld.  The images elevate the marvelous narrative in a spirit of affectionate cooperation.  Readers will be cheering for their favorite five and their new teammates.  You're going to want to have multiple copies available.

To discover more about Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries John Schumacher hosted the book trailer premiere on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  Sherri and Tom chat about their work on all their books in this article at Publishers Weekly.  At the publisher's websites for this title there is an activity kit and an activity guide for teachers.  Sherri and Tom visit All The Wonders, Episode 327 to chat with teacher librarian Matthew C. Winner about this new title.

UPDATE:  Tom Lichtenheld talks about his process with author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. April 18, 2017

Start Your Engines...The Race Is On

If your windows are down as you approach, even miles away, you can hear the roar beginning.  It's the sound of more than twelve thousand fans gathering for the day.  The stands and infield are packed with people.  Trucks are parked inside the circular track.  Family and friends are seated in chairs on the roof of those trucks to get a better view.  When the flag drops, those voices are joined by the rumbling of engines as the race at Michigan International Speedway begins.

Shouted conversations speculate on the outcome.  Will the favorite finish first or will a "dark horse" speed and weave around the front runners?  A dastardly, delightful spin on who might win is found in the rip-roaring Monster Trucks (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, July 12, 2016) written by Anika Denise with illustrations by Nate Wragg.

On a SPOOKY speedway...
MONSTER TRUCKS MOAN!
MONSTER TRUCKS GRUMBLE!
MONSTER TRUCKS GROAN!

We meet those lined in a row and ready to go; one with parts started by a spark, another which lifts his hood to howl, a third more dead than alive but ready to drive, another who is a shadow of his former self, and the fifth and final entrant who seeks to drain the energy of everyone.  The flag goes up and then down, the sound is deafening as the competition commences.  The battle is fierce as they circle.  What's this?  Another competitor has arrived!

It's a bus, a little blue bus, bustling to join that bunch of boisterous bullies.  The others tower over the timid truck.  They're ready to feast on her apparent fear when, with a shout, a challenge is issued.  Shifting into high she leaves those snide rides real fast as they fade into the rear.

Maneuvering with skill the smallest takes the lead as the furious five spin and collide.  Now in the open, the little blue bus is a target, a bull's eye for what has burst forth from the mess of metal.  The finish line looms.  Will the mighty of heart meet their doom?  A trick and a twist are revealed under the light of the full moon.


The beat generated by the rhythm of the rhyming, alliterative, and onomatopoeic words written by Anika Denise is sure to have readers and listeners ready to race (or dance at the very least).  The narrative pauses in several places as a familiar refrain, three phrases describing the monster trucks, chants the current mood.  Word choices and punctuation create a cadence that flows and is never forced.  Readers feel as though they are observers of midnight madness, a race run in the absence of daylight and humans.  Here is a sample passage.

It's a monster mash-up!
CLANG!  BOOM!  BASH!  BANG!
Every truck for himself---by piston and FANG!
When out of the pit...with a PUTT and a TOOT
comes a LITTLE BLUE BUS
looking perky ...and cute.


Opening the dust jacket (I'm working from an F & G.) readers are greeted with a full image left to right, back to front, of the five fearsome monster trucks revving their engines as they race down the track.  Nothing is going to stop them as they fight for position.  Nate Wragg uses a full color palette but lights from the headlamps, speedway stands and the full moon cast shadows and an eerie glow to the scene.

On the title page the ghost truck glides in through headstones, looking at the reader with wide eyes.  Three other trucks travel over darkened ground and through trees looking like skeletons on the verso and dedication pages.   A lone gas pump, shaped like a coffin, drips gasoline as vampire truck slurps a sip.  Bats fly across the sky.

Most of the illustrations rendered in acrylic paints with digital color are spread over two pages or a single page, edge to edge.  For one portion of the narrative Wragg uses three smaller horizontal pictures on a single page to heighten tension at a turning point in the story.  The animation on the truck faces is superb, more scary than cute.  Every visual is charged with energy.

One of my favorite illustrations is when the monster trucks are blasting from the starting line.  Their expressions are full of determination as they face forward or give each other the evil eye.  They are going so fast they are nearly airborne.  The sky behind them is shades of orange, full of golden yellow rays shooting upward from the ground behind them.  You actually believe you can hear the engines and the screams from the crowd.


Bright and bold Monster Trucks written by Anika Denise with illustrations by Nate Wragg is a finger-snapping, toe-tapping read aloud; a seasonal selection or for a monster or truck themed story hour or event.  You need to plan on reading it more than once because your listeners will want to participate with gusto in the word play. It's noisy, scary, fun and a little bit tricky.

To learn more about Anika Denise and Nate Wragg please follow the links to their respective website and blog.  Nate Wragg also maintains Tumblr pages.  Anika is a guest post writer at Angie Karcher's RHYPIBOMO site.   Enjoy the sampler and book trailer.

UPDATE:  Anika Denise is a guest at PictureBookBuilders.  Enjoy the interview. August 9, 2016

Out Of Confusion...A Job Well Done

On Fridays all kinds of trucks rumble through our neighborhood stopping and starting from home to home.  For one particular company there is a truck for recycling, a truck for garbage and a truck for yard waste; all arriving at different times during the day.  As you would expect the design and mechanics for each of them is different; each one has a very specific job to do.

On January 11, 2016 for a most distinguished beginning reader book, Supertruck (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, January 6, 2015) written and illustrated by Stephen Savage received a Theodore Seuss Geisel Award Honor designation.  In a companion title to be released on July 5, 2016 Stephen Savage gives readers The Mixed-Up Truck (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Book Press).  The new kid on the lot has much to learn but teaches too.

It was cement mixer's first day on the job.

When he arrived another trio of trucks was already working at the site.  One was using its crane to lift.  Hydraulics allowed the second to dump a load from its bed.  An extended scoop helped the third to dig.

Of course, the mixer wanted to help as quickly as possible asking what needed to be done.  They told him to do what he does best with some

powdery white cement.

Off the newbie went in search of the white powder.  He found some and mixed it with water.  It did not produce concrete.  He made a cake!  What was that stuff?!

Encouraged to try again, he found more white powder, put in some water and well...let's just say the cake was now wearing a new topping.  Whizzing away in search of cement, the mixer tried again.  This time, the third time, was, as is said, the charm.  As the sun sets his construction colleagues were more tired than joyful at his accomplishment.

The mixer, even though this was his first day, knew his work was not done.  As the trio rested, he sped away again.  This time the white powder he mixed with water lifted everyone's spirits.  Sweet dreams, good trucks.


Few words, carefully chosen, by Stephen Savage spin a narrative easily understood by the youngest of readers.  With single sentences we learn about the specific jobs of the other trucks. Together they tell the mixer what to do three times using the same phrase creating a cadence for readers.  In a single sentence the mixer completes the action required with the same final word each time.  It's a back and forth beat which invites reader participation.

The word But gives readers pause at the end.  This time the mixer is on his own.  He has learned from his day of work.  His final fill of white powder will have readers giggling with glee.  Repetition of the words mixer, mixed and mix is important throughout the story, too.


Stephen Savage's signature style is evident on the dust jacket (working with an F & G).  The wide red spine is the same as on Supertruck.  (Those not familiar with the Brooklyn, New York, skyline, should make note of the tribute Savage pays to the iconic Kentile Floor sign throughout the title.)  To the left on the back within a background of the mixer's body color, a bold blue, a smaller circular picture has been placed featuring the smiling mixer.  On the title page the smoke from the mixer's stack becomes the canvas for the title text in the same rich red as the stripes on our protagonist's body.

Most of the illustrations span two pages.  Savage has paler colors and elements in the background so readers' eyes go toward his characters and the mixer's creations.  Each time the mixer approaches a building to get the powdery white cement the perspective and the building's design change but the sign signifying what he is getting remains the same as the font styles and words differ.  The color of the text on all the signs stays red, just like the letters on the Kentile Floor sign.

The time of day is evident in the background colors moving from morning to noon to sunset and evening and nighttime.  There is warmth and happiness in all of the illustrations noticeable in the facial expressions specifically of the mixer.  Nothing is getting this guy discouraged.  That he has earned a spot in the garage at the end of the day is apparent on the four smiles we see in the next to last visual.  (I love that picture!)

One of my many favorite illustrations is when the mixer finally arrives at the right building to get the cement powder.  The center of the building, a tall tower, is strategically placed along the gutter.  Behind the building a closing-day sky is glowing.  On top of that are bright yellow rays of the setting sun stretching from left to right across two pages.  He is busy chugging away as smoke moves behind his truck.  He is looking right at the reader and smiling.  Readers can see, as we have all along, the correct word on the sign, CEMENT.


The Mixed-Up Truck written and illustrated by Stephen Savage is a true gem.  It's been read aloud to a group of kindergarten students who enjoyed it from beginning to end and wanted to read it again.  You could feel the anticipation in the air as the word on the sign at the building was read and they waited for the page turn to see what he would make with the incorrect powder.  This is an adorable tale about fulfilling your purpose, never giving up and going the distance even when your companions are too tired to offer suggestions.  Thank you Stephen Savage for another winner!

To learn more about Stephen Savage and his other books please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  You can view four interior images at the publisher's website.  This title is mentioned by Travis Jonker, teacher librarian, 2014 Caldecott committee member and blogger at 100 Scope Notes, in a list compiled by Reading Rockets, Summer Reading 2016, in a post/interview at Scholastic's Ambassador for School Libraries and 2014 Newbery committee member John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read. and at School Library Journal's SLJ's June 2016 Popular Picks.  Stephen Savage is interviewed at Where The Board Books Are.

Bursting Forth From The Blizzard Is...

Although it's winter in northern Michigan, a strange sight was seen in our neighborhood yesterday morning, a snow plow.  Usually we don't see a plow in our neck of the woods until late afternoon; when the school buses have already dropped the guys and gals back home.  We must be last on their route due to the closeness of the county garages.  There really hasn't been much snowfall lately either.

What was really surprising was the size of the plow on the front of the truck.  It was so big it could have been used in the last Ice Age.  It was gargantuan.  I began to wonder what this driver and his truck knew that the meteorologists were keeping from us.  It is evident this truck must be related to the new character in Stephen Savage's latest title, Supertruck (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, January 6, 2015).

The city is full of brave trucks.

Each of the trucks in the city has specific acts of valor for which they are noted.  The green truck with the bucket on top can reach to fix power lines.  A hose shoots out water from the red truck to put out fires.  A hook and winch help the blue truck tow away stranded vehicles.

One truck in gray and white simply picks up the city's garbage.  This job, mostly behind the scenes, steadfast day in and day out, is not noted as being particularly gallant.  An evening in winter is about to reveal another side to this ordinary truck.

It begins with a few fluffy flakes tumbling from the sky.  The snow keeps falling until it gets deeper and deeper.  Life in the city comes to a standstill.  The green, red and blue trucks are stuck.

In the darkest part of the night, one truck, a gray and white truck, makes its way to a garage.  WHOA! Out of the doorway emerges SUPERTRUCK!  With a big orange plow on the front he trudges through the city.

Roads, avenues and streets are cleared through his single-wheeled efforts.  The other trucks marvel at his magnificent moves.  Who is this truck?  His secret is tucked away inside one lone garage on a deserted pier as the garbage truck makes his daily collections the next morning.


Simple straightforward sentences written by Stephen Savage introduce readers to life in the city dependent on the heroism of the trucks.  The first four followed by a question set the calm pace.  It's one word in the sixth sentence, just, which sends out a clever possibility, a shift in the story.  You get the feeling there might be more to this truck than meets the eye.  As the momentum builds with the arrival of the blizzard we know something is going to happen.  We keep turning the pages to discover the truth.  This is wonderful!


The pull of the rich bright red cloth spine with the silver lettering made me eager to open the book case.  The blue gray of the grinning Supertruck on the front supplies the background on the back.  A wheel with Supertruck in white acts as a frame for a frontal view of him happily plowing through the snow.  Another shade of vivid blue/purple is used for the opening and closing endpapers.  Kids' hearts of all ages are already humming.  On the title page Stephen Savage places an image beneath the text of white eyes, headlights, peering from a darkened garage on a pier with the cityscape in silhouette behind it.

Rendered in pencil, paper, stylus, tablet and currants (for the snowflakes) all of Savage's illustrations span two pages with the exception of the first and final pages.  On those readers are treated to circular pictures; the first in sunny yellow featuring the first three trucks, the second in the dusky blue evening, snow falling as the garbage truck goes into the special garage.  Simple lines and geometric shapes convey the essence of the city and the trucks.  The bird's eye views of the city are graphic gorgeousness.

Each of the vehicles is given eyes and mouths to convey emotion.  A carefully placed squirrel and bird perched on a fire hydrant add to the reality of each scene.  The fact that Savage gives the garbage truck glasses makes my superhero-comic-book-loving-self sing especially when they are not shown as Supertruck dons the plow.

One of several of my favorite illustrations is when the garbage truck is moving through the snow toward the garage on the night of the blizzard.  In the background is the lighted bridge.  A glow illuminates the doorway.  There is a look of determination on the truck.  The colors in this image are shades of blue and purple with snow falling everywhere. (Cue: Superman music)


You don't have to be a fan of trucks to love Supertruck written and illustrated by Stephen Savage.  Heroes come in all shapes and sizes but the one thing they have in common is their huge hearts.  I can almost hear the theme song now...by day a trash-picking garbage truck, while the city sleeps in the dead of night while the winds of a snowstorm howl it's Supertruck to the rescue.  I think I need to create a list of huggable books or a shelf on Goodreads.  This title would definitely be placed there.

To learn more about Stephen Savage and his other titles please visit his website by following the link embedded in his name.  I have reviewed Where's Walrus?, Little Tug, and Polar Bear Morning. Though mentioned in an earlier post please follow this link to an outstanding interview of Stephen Savage at author and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Teacher librarian extraordinaire and blogger at Watch. Connect. Read., John Schumacher chats with Stephen Savage about this book here.  It is in this chat that Savage reveals his illustrative techniques for this title.  To see eight images from the book go to the publisher's website.

Stephen Savage was kind enough to respond to an email.  Here are three photographs on the currants he used to create snowfall in his illustrations.  Red pepper flakes and cereal simply would not supply the same effect.  If you visit the publisher's website you can see the final result.

UPDATE:  Stephen Savage reads this title aloud at KidLit TV.