Love Is a Truck

by Amy Novesky, Sara Gillingham (Illustrator)

Overview

Graphically appealing two-color illustrations pair perfectly with a spare, rhythmic ode to beloved trucks of all kinds - from fire trucks to dump trucks to ice cream trucks, the sweetest trucks of all - and to the kid who loves and collects them, Love Is a Truck follows Love Is a Tutu (our ballet-inspired ode to tutus and toe shoes) in our Love Is series. A smaller square format with thick, sturdy pages, make these little picture books perfect for young readers, ages 2-6, and for reading aloud again and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937359867
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Series:	Amy Novesky's Love Is Series
Pages:	24
Sales rank:	126,924
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 7.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	350L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Amy Novesky is an award-winning author whose books include Love Is a Tutu, Love Is a Truck, Cloth Lullaby, and Me, Frida. She lives just north of San Francisco. Sara Gillingham is an award-winning author, illustrator, and art director whose books include Love Is a Tutu, Love Is a Truck, One Whole Bunch, I Am So Brave, Snuggle the Baby,and I Can Do It Myself. She lives with her family in Vancouver.

Editorial Reviews

10/17/2016
Novesky and Gillingham follow Love Is a Tutu with a lighthearted, vehicle-centric reflection on love. Some of the analogies in Novesky’s mostly unrhymed verse work better than others: the idea that “Love is a loader. Love is a lifter” in one constructed-themed scene has real resonance, compared to lines that just name-check vehicles (“Love is a dump truck, rounded with dirt./ A bulldozer, a digger, a rolling cement mixer”). Gillingham’s clean graphics showcase one child’s very evident love of toy trucks; the brown-skinned, overalls-clad child’s gender isn’t apparent, a reminder that truck love is universal. Ages 2–6. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Love IS a truck! At least it is to my son, and this book is right on the money. There’s a companion title called Love Is a Tutu, but I’m Team Truck. It’s great to see Sara Gillingham bringing out a new book or two too." – Betsy Bird, Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2017
Toddler-PreS—Fire trucks usually get all the love, but in this book, there is an abundance of love for trucks of all types and sizes. With everything from dump trucks to ice-cream trucks to cement trucks, this honey of a title conveys the simple joy of creative play. An adorable brown-skinned tot with cross-hatched red cheeks is all smiles and giggles as he (or she) plays from morning to night with dozens of vehicles. While the text is simple and sweet without being cloying, the real star of the show is the vintage-looking, geometric two-color illustrations, done in shades of red and black with touches of warm grays and white. The thick pages make this a delight to hold for multiple readings either one-on-one in a lap or in a baby program at the library. VERDICT This enchanting board book is a first purchase to use in both circulating and story collections.—Lisa G. Kropp, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY

School Library Journal

2016-11-02
Richly textured board pages and a limited color palette distinguish this tribute to trucks. The gray buckram cover is a delight to hold, while bright red endpapers promise excitement within. Beautifully designed using shades of red, black, white, and brown on matte pages, the whole package has a retro, letterpress feel. The first truck is a firetruck big enough for a brown-skinned child to straddle. Later pages feature construction vehicles, a flatbed trailer, and an ice cream truck. The slight text has a lyrical quality, though the occasional rhymes seem accidental. Relatively abstract concepts are casually introduced, "Love is a kid who lines them all up. Biggest to smallest, color by color." On the final page the brown-skinned child is kissed goodnight while clutching a truck under a road-patterned blanket. The main character wears plaid bib overalls and has longish curly hair. Another child, also brown-skinned, with close-cropped hair, plays with the construction trucks, shares a treat from the ice cream truck, and offers a goodnight kiss. Unfortunately, a less gender-neutral companion volume, Love Is a Tutu, clearly aims for the ballerina market with an excess of pink. Together the two books assure little girls they can love both tutus and trucks. Unfortunately, they send a mixed message to little boys. Truck lovers of any gender will find this title a treat, but the hyperfeminine companion is sadly restrictive. (Board book. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews