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Mashing It All Together—Author Chris Gall Explains the Genesis of Dinotrux
Author Chris Gall created an irresistible concept for young readers with his Dinotrux series, which combines—oh yes!—trucks AND dinosaurs, in a brilliant mashup that’s perfect for young enthusiasts of either (or both). Gall’s Dinotrux series, which include Dinotrux Dig the Beach and Revenge of the Dinotrux, has even inspired a Netflix original TV series.
Chris shared the story of the eureka moment he had when the idea of the Dinotrux saga first came to him.
In the TV commercial from my youth, a child eating a chocolate bar collides with a child eating peanut butter, and the result becomes an iconic combination. Sometimes it happens that way. But it helps if you give it a little push.
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Several years ago I was interested in developing a picture book about trucks. There were oh-so-many truck books out in the world, so I knew it would be a challenge to come up with a new take. I had thought of a scenario wherein all the helpful trucks of the world suddenly decide to quit work. I had a title—“When Good Trucks Go Bad”. But other than illustrating multiple scenes of misbehavior, I couldn’t get much past the premise.
Enter the chocolate bar and the peanut butter. Some days later, I was driving down the highway and was caught up in traffic. A dozen earth-movers were grading the land for the construction of new lanes. A herd of them. They were loud, they grumbled, their front cab moved back and forth, the ground shook. I snapped a picture. Boy, they sure remind me of dinosaurs, I thought.
In an instant, the words “dinosaur trucks” came to mind. Hmmm, I bet that’s been done already.
I drove home and Googled like mad. Was it actually possible that this combination had not been thought of? My pulse raced. OK, what about the title…What do I call them? I Googled a variety of possibilities. Eventually I settled on Dinotrux, with the “x” at the end, like T. Rex. I typed in the name.
I got two hits—they were both misspellings.
Frantically, I got out my notebook. I wrote down all of the possible dinosaur/truck combinations I could think of. They needed cool names. A bulldozer looked a lot like a Triceratops—so, Dozeratops. Tyrannosaurus Rex became Tyrannosaurus Trux. The dump truck became Dumplodocus. And on it went. It isn’t often you get to invent a whole new species. Now I just needed a story.
I thought that perhaps the story should revolve around a boy fossil-hunter who discovers the rusty remains and brings them back to life. But quickly I settled on telling the story of the Dinotrux themselves—how and when they lived, what they ate, what happened to them. Most importantly, I wanted their shortcomings to mirror those of a child. Like children, they were a work in progress.
My wife came into the room later in the day.
“I have a great idea for my next book.”
“And…?”
“It’s about a primitive race of trucks that existed millions of years ago that ruled the earth and eventually evolved into the friendly, helpful trucks we have today.”
“I don’t get it. How would they…? Why would they…? What?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll see. You’ll see.”
In his newest picture book, which will be out August 23, Gall is going smaller—much smaller—with NanoBots, a story about tiny, helpful little robots, who love making their inventor’s life easier. Below, you’ll find an exclusive reveal of a colorful spread from NanoBots!
The Dinotrux series is in stores now. NanoBots will be on shelves August 23.