Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas?

September 1, 2018
Trucks of all kinds get ready for Christmas with the help of an elflike little mouse.Readers are invited to imagine and act out the activities of large-eyed, smiling diggers, cherry pickers, forklifts, tanker trucks, and others that are on their way to a large gathering. The appealing story is in rhyming verse, although the scansion is frequently awkward: "Where do cherry pickers celebrate / once they've stretched to reach great heights? / Do they hang up strings of colored bulbs / that make truck stops bright with lights?" Each type of truck is featured on its own brightly colored double-page spread in landscape design with lots of room for individual scenarios. A family of diggers excavates a tree, concrete mixers sip eggnog after a long day's work, and tow trucks "trade places with the reindeer / to help Santa pull his sleigh." Tractors, food trucks, Zambonis--they're all here, ready for the "Truckcracker ballet" at a construction site with a decorated tree. By the end of the day, the sleepy-eyed trucks reveal themselves to be toys left under the tree by Santa (depicted as white) in a lucky child's cozy home. Rural and urban settings, indoors and out, day and night, will encourage kids to stretch their imaginations.For young truck enthusiasts. (Picture book. 2-5)

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September 24, 2018
In the fourth of her vehicle-themed series, Sayres theorizes how different types of trucks—forklifts, mixers, cranes, tanker trucks, and others—might celebrate Christmas. She writes in pleasantly rhyming verse: “Where do tractors celebrate Christmas/ after plowing row by row?” Slade’s artwork shows the bright-eyed, anthropomorphic trucks hanging Christmas decorations, sipping eggnog, and cuddling up beneath mistletoe. All the trucks celebrate together at a snowy construction site until, finally, the trucks come closer to home, appearing toy-size under a tree. Beyond the playful depictions of trucks indulging in Christmas cheer, readers might especially enjoy details about the heavy lifting the trucks do during their day’s work. Ages 3–7.