Digger, Dozer, Dumper

by Hope Vestergaard, David Slonim (Illustrator)

Overview

“Rising above the usual singsong name-checking, Vestergaard celebrates not only the jobs these machines perform but also their marvelous mechanics.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Sixteen boisterous, rhyming poems—each one highlighting the job and personality of a different vehicle, from a backhoe to an ambulance to a snowplow—introduce young children to their favorite trucks face-to-face. Cheerful illustrations show each one in action, digging (or dozing, or dumping) away. Each truck and big machine in these enticing rhyming poems is different, and little readers are invited to find a vehicle that’s like them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763688936
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	08/02/2016
Pages:	30
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

 

Editorial Reviews

This book is intelligent and informative, with craft, rhythm, great art, and entertainment.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. ... While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
—Kirkus Reviews

Vestergaard (Potty Animals) offers 16 poetic tributes to big machines and trucks that should prove deeply satisfying to young connoisseurs and the grownups who read to them. ... Slonim’s pictures are rendered in bright acrylics (fire engine red and construction sign yellow prevail) and outlined in appropriately rugged charcoal; their burly cuddliness skews the pages toward younger imaginations.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

[Youngsters] will be captivated by the lively artwork. ... Fun for reading aloud, especially one-on- one.
—Booklist

[T]hese playful verses sing the praises of sixteen trucks and the work they do. The lighthearted acrylic and charcoal illustrations enhance the poems’ humor and give their subjects loads of personality. There’s some refreshing gender equality, too, as six of the trucks are female.
—The Horn Book

Although Slonim’s perky accompanying cartoon illustrations play to a younger crowd, Vestergaard’s careful wordsmithery, precise terminology, and sly humor assure that the poems themselves will be appreciated by even more sophisticated listeners. ... Vestergaard changes up her rhyme and meter enough to keeps things interesting, and the scansion is reliable enough to coax even poetry-shy adults into trying a read aloud. Newly independent readers might want to step up to the mic, too, and share in the fun of a high-energy, clanging and banging poetry performance.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

A charming set of rhymes... This is a wonderful addition to the bookshelf of any kid fascinated by big trucks. And who isn't?
—San Antonio Express-News

From the Publisher

Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do. Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks--from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi--easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers' attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from "Cement Mixer": "No time to wait; / he can't sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden." Slonim's trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures--Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in "Bulldozer": "He's not a bully, either, / although he's big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough." A few trucks' jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: "Skid-Steer Loader" focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but "Semi" runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing. While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews