A noisy construction site may be an unorthodox setting for a bedtime story, but newcomer Rinker and Lichtenheld (Shark vs. Train) tie together the dual themes neatly. Though more subdued than the trucks that drive Kate and Jim McMullan’s I Stink! and I’m Dirty!, these anthropomorphized vehicles have a similar graphic feel and cheerful demeanor. After five machines are first pictured hard at work, they appear against a blazing sky: “The sun has set, the work is done;/ It’s time for trucks to end their fun./ So one by one they’ll go to bed/ To yawn and rest their sleepy heads,/ Then wake up to another day/ Of rough-and-tough construction play!” Each truck performs one final task before settling down to sleep, with gentle encouragement: “Shh... goodnight, Bulldozer, goodnight.” Rinker’s rhythmic verse reinforces the vehicles’ love of their work (Dump Truck “moves the dirt/ from place to place,/ Then dumps it with a happy face”) and, like Lichtenheld’s art, deftly balances the story’s boisterous and drowsy elements. Truck lovers will happily nod off to the strains of this read-aloud. Ages 4–8. (May)
There’s nothing sweeter than greeting a new baby with a library of favorites that say, “We can’t wait to show you how amazing this place we call home is!” It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer volume of brilliant books out in the world, so we created a list of perfect stories to welcome […]
We are uncompromising about storytime in my house. As certain as there is peanut butter on my ceiling and my dog providing pony rides between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., there are 30 minutes around 8 every night dedicated to discovering a new library book or 3, or revisiting (for the thousandth time) a well-loved […]
All right, snow angels, Christmas Eve is right around the corner, so after you’ve marveled at the frosted windowpanes—but before you start listening for those telltale footfalls on the roof—it’s STORYTIME! To make your load lighter, we’ve handpicked a few of our favorite holiday tales to pull out on this oh-so-fateful evening. Grab your anxious […]
While realistic stories about childhood experiences are lovely, so are tales in which animals talk and muffins walk; books that offer a glimpse of a sillier, more whimsical world than the one we inhabit. Of course, as kids grow up, they learn to separate fact from fiction; to realize that dogs don’t play tennis or wear extravagant hats […]
You’re reaching for the same stories night after night, and you can barely maintain consciousness to reach the “happily ever after”. Or maybe you find yourself preoccupied with how many days remain until you can reasonably start reading the Grinch again. Whatever the symptoms may be, the diagnosis is the same—you’re in a reading rut! […]