Trucktown Race A to Z

August 15, 2014
Another in Scieszka's Trucktown series, this one features a boisterous truck race from A to Z. "C is for Construction, Curbs and Cones and Crashes! / D is for Dan Dump Truck, who Dumps his Dirt then Dashes!" While not all letters feature such density of alliteration, Scieszka manages to pack quite a lot in. He also takes advantage of the world he's built to upend some conventions. In many alphabet books, the text observes, Q often stands for "quiet," but "[i]n Trucktown Q means 'quite' "-as in "QUITE LOUD!" The one letter that seems off track is X: "Look out-X! A Xylophone? No one knows just why scary Big Rig has one." Since silliness is the name of Scieszka's game here, that's OK. Z is for Izzy the ice cream truck, who wins the race. The digital illustrations comically animate each truck with google-eyed faces, expressions and appropriate characteristics: Big Rig sports a scowl, two hornlike exhaust pipes and a fearsome grille (he can play the xylophone all day if he wants); Wrecking Crane Rosie has a pink wrecking ball and an amiable expression. They really rev up the action. The droves of truck fans will love identifying the individual trucks as they race and cheer at the ending. Clever fun, swooshing with motion and energy, this latest in the series will keep readers racing their engines for more. (Alphabet picture book. 4-8)

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October 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 1-Trucktown fans will welcome this latest addition to the series. After Jack Truck challenges his friends to a race, they join in, sometimes alphabetically (Dan Dump Truck, Gabby Garbage Truck, and Izzy Ice Cream Truck among them). With their headlight eyes bulging, they speed off in clouds of dust. Lucy Ladder Truck stops to do a trick, Monster Max becomes airborne, and the others take a detour because of potholes. An overhead view of the race features a cacophony of truck sounds. When a stop sign leads to a massive crash, Ted Tow Truck comes to the rescue and the race resumes. With the finish line in sight, the vehicles slow down for a yield sign, allowing little Izzy to win the race. Vehicles with lots of personality, bright artwork, and an action-packed story will make this title a favorite for truck-loving youngsters.-Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2014
Preschool-K Once again Scieszka and crew really bring the noise: Q often means Quiet' / in a different place. / In Trucktown Q means Quite' / QUITE LOUD! / when we race. The third alphabet book in this proliferating series (following Trucktown on Reading Street ABCs, 2007, and Junkyard Dig! Building from A to Z, 2010) sends the heavy-duty wheeled cast roaring through the letters, from A is for Axle to the final celebration for race winner IZZZZZZZZy, the ice cream truck. The digitally designed figures and settings, originally developed by David Gordon, Loren Long, David Shannon, and other established picture-book stars, feature a cast of a large array of anthropomorphic, rumpled looking trucks and working vehicles into a wild hugger-mugger punctuated with mishaps, dirty tricks, and outsize sound effects. The featured letters are highlighted by size and color and usually recur several times in the alliterative rhymes. A fine alternative to such equally high-volume ABCs as Ross MacDonald's Achoo! Bang! Crash! (2003) and Nate Evans' Bang! Boom! Roar! (2012).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)