Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Schertle

Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Rating: 5 beep! beep! beep! stars

This is the classic story of a country boy, or, in this case truck, coming into the fast-paced, rude, impatient, loud, and noisy city and teaching the other boys, or other vehicles, a lesson: how to take turns.  And then everybody just gets along and there are no more traffic violations for the rest of the city's lifetime.  That's it--no more, no less.

I can't say enough how much we all love this book.  Lorelei loves how all of the vehicles have faces with different expressions on them in each page--she cracks up at the limo's tongue when his engine dies.  Ben loves to find Little Blue, a bright little character, amidst all the buses and taxis and cars and trucks and motorcycles.  I love how there's a lesson to draw out: Everyone, not just the little brother and sister in our household, has to be patient and take turns.

But there's some magic in the pages.  It's that can't-put-your-finger-on-it stuff that makes one book about a truck brilliant and the other one silly.  Jill McElmurry's illustrations definitely have something to do with it.  They are captivating, especially to us non-city folk.  (I always glance up at those tall buildings whenever I'm downtown or in New York--they are just so impressively and oppressively high!). 

And Alice Schertle's poem like a song you can't get out of your head--but in a good way.  Sometimes I'll blurt out one line from it and Lorelei will follow up with the next line or two.  We wave to Little Blue as he leads the way (see picture) and we clap and cheer when the poem instructs us to do so.  I think that the first book is a little stronger than this one, but they are both so wonderful I'm left wondering how a beat up old truck could be so endearing.

This is a fantastic book for babies and toddlers, boys and girls, one that you can't go wrong in gifting to someone.  I'm going to try to resist the urge to buy it, but my confidence in myself is quite low because this, along with the prequel, Little Blue Truck (review here) is a Great One!

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