Beep Beep Beep Time for Sleep!

February 1, 2017
The big trucks work hard all day, and at night they sleep, just like us.Near the highway, as vehicles "vroooom" by, big trucks are busy building a road. "Digger's sharp teeth hit the earth. / He's clawing holes for all he's worth." Backhoe "jolts and judders," making the "whole road shudder." Dump truck carries away heaps of earth. Grader has a "giant blade," which "gets the sticky asphalt laid." Concrete mixer turns sand, gravel, and cement, churning them into the new road's surface. "Dusty plow truck at the double. / Tips his load of stones and rubble." Last of all comes "huge road roller," with big impressive wheels, to give the new highway a smooth surface. There's a double gatefold at the center of the book, giving a panoramic view of all seven colorful trucks, hard at work. After a hard day, the trucks take the exit ramp off to bed. A good rub with a cleaning brush, a cooling spray, and it's time to rest. "All tucked safely in their yard / they snuggle down, they've worked so hard." Freedman's crisp and accessible verse is the perfect complement to Smythe's bright and blocky illustrations, which have a toddler-friendly Lego or Playskool feel. While construction workers and passers-by of both genders and diverse skin tones populate the pages, all the trucks are gendered male--an odd disconnect. Four-wheeled fun, if a little unbalanced. (Picture book. 3-5)

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April 1, 2017
PreS-Gr 1-In the same vein as Sherri Duskey Rinker's Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site comes another book with busy vehicles working hard through the day. A diverse crew of happy construction workers operate the vehicles to get the job done together. Brightly colored illustrations, onomatopoeia, and rhyming text carry the story through spreads with trucks, cranes, backhoes, plows, and more. All the while, in the background, the sun sets a bit more with each page turn, until the last page reveals a full moon. VERDICT While hardly original, this title is a great addition to libraries that cannot keep enough truck books on the shelves or those in need of some alternatives to warm and fuzzy bedtime stories.-Emily E. Lazio, New York Public Library

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