Little Yellow Truck

January 15, 2019
A little yellow truck wrestles with feelings of inadequacy. When lumberyard owner Riley informs his crew of trucks that he's purchased some land to turn into a playground, Little Yellow is thrilled. Yet all the other trucks get the big jobs, like hauling the trash, pouring the concrete, and delivering the equipment, and it seems there's nothing left for a small pickup to do. Fortunately Riley's got a job for him, and it's just right for a little guy. While the book attempts to connect with child readers by appealing to their sympathy with a character's disappointment, little artistry accompanies the writing. Bunting takes a glancing pass at spiffing up the text with copious sound effects of trucks at work ("Bang, clang, smack, whack") and descriptions of the "lumpy, bumpy, clumpy land," but the tale itself does little to engage readers beyond the presence of the trucks themselves. Additionally, the simplified computer art and cartoony anthropomorphized vehicles do the book no favors. Human characters are depicted in a wide range of ethnicities and abilities (Riley is white), but while it is good to include a kid who uses a wheelchair, it is impossible not to notice that none of the playground equipment is made to be accessible to that child. A honk and a miss. (Picture book. 3-6)

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March 1, 2019

PreS-K-Promising very important jobs for his red dump truck, green flatbed, blue concrete mixer, and little yellow pickup, Riley gets everyone in the lumberyard excited. The project turns out to be a playground; all of the big construction vehicles play their parts excavating, cleaning, and building. Everyone except for the little yellow truck. He's worried that he is too small to help at all, until the very end when Riley loads him up with trees and flowers to make the playground beautiful. The colorful, anthropomorphized trucks are sure to catch the attention of young listeners, but the wordy story distracts from the appealing premise. A skilled reader may be able to omit some of the unnecessary words and instead focus on the delightful onomatopoetic parts like the "Bang, clang, smack, whack" of fence building. VERDICT In a lane crowded with quality construction-themed options, this book is merely middle of the road.-Jenna Boles, Greene County Public Library, Beavercreek, OH

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