Diggers

April 1, 2021

PreS-Gr 1-Adorable, smiling big machines invite kids to learn more about construction, rescue, and farm vehicles, as well as some seriously big trucks. Labeled illustrations highlight important aspects of each big machine and the playful language is engaging and exciting, just begging to be read aloud. These books fall into a gray area between fiction and nonfiction known as "informational fiction"-they contain researched, factual information about a topic, but also have some fictional elements (think along the lines of Joanna Cole's "The Magic School Bus" franchise). Those fictional elements in this case are embodied by faces and quotes attributed to the machines, which are fun for kids to imagine, but not the best idea to group in with nonfiction in a time when librarians are fighting on the forefronts of fake news. VERDICT They're cute books that will see a lot of circulation, but few would classify them among nonfiction titles.

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2021
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* Sure, you've already got a dump-truck's worth of construction-vehicle books, but this cheerful little number from the Busy Machines series (4 titles) really gets the job done. With cartoonish faces, generally on their windshields and grills, these colorful vehicles have lots of work to do, and little ones will love learning how certain trucks do specific tasks amazingly well. An opening scene of a construction site gives way to an exciting spread of "Diggers at Work," where an excavator, backhoe loader, underwater (!) excavator, and wheeled excavator are all depicted in action with a brief description and a part or two labeled. The gigantic bucket-wheel excavator takes up a full two pages with a satisfying combination of descriptive and comic labels. Next comes the "Rock busters" scene, which shows a rock crusher and excavator working with a bulldozer, wheel loader, and rock-hoisting grapple. Other scenes show cranes and road-construction vehicles, like the grader and paver, plus close-ups of excavators and dump trucks. Going beyond just diggers, this busy book will keep construction enthusiasts enthralled.

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