One of the questions most asked by parents is do you know any books about trains? or cars? or trucks? Though I hate to be a sexist, I would have to report that most vehicle-book lovers are boys, though my daughter was captured by many of the books her older brother had loved.
And one of the most often sung pre-school tune is The Wheels on the Bus and there are a number authors and illustrators who have translated this song to book medium. I would be hard pressed to pick one favorite, but instead recommend three that have different and captivating treatments. Maryann Kovalski weaves the song into a story of a grandmother and two children who begin a song while they await a bus and are so enchanted with their own singing that they miss the bus. (Little Brown, 1987). In Raffi's Songs to Read series, The Wheels on the Bus is illustrated by Sylvie Wickstrom (Crown, 1988). Paul Zelinsky designs a pop-up version as full action as the song (Dutton, 1990)
Many vehicle books for the young have strong rhymes and rhythms. It's almost as if they are capturing the motions of vehicles in their words. Both my daughter and son were captivated by the bright backgrounds, simple representations and chantishness of Machines At Work by Byron Barton. It was the first book that my daughter "read" to herself as a toddler. The words rhythms etched themselves in her mind and she would repeat great hunks of this book as she wandered in play. Ages 2-5. (HarperCollins, 1987)
The words of Bill Martin and John Archambault's Up and Down on the Merry-Go-Round perfectly mirror a merry-go-round experience. Reading it aloud, I sometimes find myself moving up and down and my reading gains speed with text until the sad moment of slow down. Illustrations by Ted Rand are brightly colored watercolors that show all the magic children love, the whirl of movement and a dynamic clown ticket-taker. (Holt, 1988)
If I had to choose a vehicle author-illustrator, it would have to be Donald Crews. My favorite, Freight Train, shows a train of primary-colored cars traveling through night and day, country and city. It is an apparently simple book that reaches ever so many levels including learning colors and demonstrations of how colors blend. All concepts are shown with a special graphic style that earned the book a Caldecott-honor. Mr. Crews knows that words are not age-bound and so delights young children with words like "trestle". I will be forever grateful to a dear book friend who also showed me the hidden magic of this book, reading it with long strings of choo-choo-choo noises as you turn pages. Ages 1-5. (Greenwillow, 1979) For the pleasure of young vehicle fans, Donald Crews has also written Carousel, Truck, Harbor and Schoolbus.
Vehicles are a great way to introduce concepts. In Tim Archbold's The Race, a young boy and his dog race a cart down, into, through, under... gathering speed through as they careen through prepositions. Ages 2-5. (Holt, 1988)
Dayle Ann Dodd's Wheel Away, with illustrations by Thacher Hurd, follows the same format as a boy chases an escaped wheel through a variety of adventures, making appropriate noises and sometimes creating comical havoc along the way. When the wheel reaches a hilltop--it returns along the same path with just as much fun on the return trip. Ages 2-5. (HarperCollins,1989; Scholastic)
Traffic by Betsy and Giulo Maestro introduces opposites with bright, bold graphics. (Crown, 1981) Counting is part of the format in Bus Stop by Nancy Hellen. First through seventh passengers are introduced in graduated pages and then as the last page turns, we see that the square cuts become bus windows for all the people we've met. (Orchard, 1988) Colors, counting and identifying are key elements in Taro Gomi's The Bus Stops which asks questions which are certain to draw participation from a young listener. (Chronicle Books, 1988)
One of the concepts we sometimes ignore in books is imagination. Mike Thaler's How Far Will a Rubber Band Stretch? begins with a small boy who seems "driven" to learn the answer to the question. Putting one end around his bedpost, the small boy holds the other end and takes bike, bus, train, plane, boat, camel, and rocket until he gets to the moon, takes one step and is boinged back to bed! (Simon and Schuster, 1990)
Pop-up books abound, what better way to show off vehicles' primary trait. Pop-up Machines has moving parts and shows past and present of everything from fire-engines to forklifts. (Ages 3-6;Random House, 1991) Fire Fighters is filled with tabs to pull, flaps to turn and actions of everything from equipment to different ways of putting out fires. (Ages 4-7; Dutton, 1990) Steam Locomotive is an elegant and intricate study of the development and types of locomotives. (Ages 5-10; Orchard, 1989)
Non-fiction books are plenty. There's a broad range to cover all vehicles and interest. Here's but a sampling. There's the poetic Train Song by Diane Siebert rumbling and grumbling and singing a clickety-song. (Ages 3-6;HarperCollins, 1991) Ann Morris' On the Go shows transportation all over the world with photographs ranging from one of a Ghana baby in a sling to Indian rickshas. (Ages 3-6; Lothrop, 1990) Gail Gibbon's Trains tells of types, history, and workings all with few words and clear, bright illustrations. (Ages 4-8; Holiday House, 1987) Macmillan's EyeOpener series devotes three books to discovering Cars, Trucks, and Diggers and Dump Trucks with simple text and bright bold photographs. (Ages 3-6.)
For older children who still love things that move, there's Tom Stacy's Wings, Wheels and Sails. This book, prepared in a question-answer format, responds to over thirty questions about boats, planes, cars, jets, subs...etc. Some of the questions had me stumped but my eight-year-old understood, cluing me into the fact that they are written from a kid perspective which is all important for 8-12 year olds. (Random House,1991)
For an even older vehicle aficionado, there's Gregory Pope's Hot Machines: The Fastest, Coolest, Meanest Vehicles on Earth. There are many black and white photographs to relieve print with an abundance of information between pictures. (Ages 8-12; Avon, 1990)
Chapel Hill Herald, 1991 I began last week's article by telling you about parents who beg for books to satisfy their children's needs for books about vehicles. Usually their first question is followed by a second question, a question for themselves. Are there any books about vehicles that are stories? Having gone hoarse and tired of an onslaught of non-fiction, noise-filled books, I understand their question and am delighted to give a positive answer. Yes... there are vehicle books that have stories.
The first automotive storybook I ever found was David Lyon's The Biggest Truck. It's rather a blend of fact and fiction. From the opening scene-setting pages, it won my heart as it shows the policewoman and the lawyer and HER family going to bed. The simple story tells of Jim and his wife who wake late at night for that's when Jim goes to the garage and to meet the biggest truck and deliver a cargo of strawberries. The book is filled with lots of delicious humming, vrooming sounds that differ from the usual, but will definitely satisfy your child and there will be enough of a tale to keep you going too. Ages 3-6. (Lothrop, 1988)
While other children dream of dinosaurs and sell lemonade, young Elliot Long, The Neighborhood Trucker, is actually becoming a trucker. Elliot watches trucks closely observing different shapes, colors, sounds and names. While others play space and ballet, Elliot watches for his favorite driver, Slim. Elliot even celebrates his birthday party at the truck yard. And while the other children imagine their futures, Slim takes Elliot on his first ride. Louise Borden's text is a perfect poem of wishes and real all seen through a child's eyes. Illustrator Sandra Speidel does the same with her chalk drawings, blending the specific in a dreamy style. Ages 4-8. (Scholastic, 1990)
Two books titled Wheels tell of issues that can come up for a little boy when wheels enter his life. Jane Resh Thomas' Wheels tells the story of Elliot who receives his first bicycle from his grandfather on his fifth birthday. Grandpa dubs Elliot "Wheels" and Elliot imagines himself entering the neighborhood races. Filled with dreams and speed and joy, he expects he'll beat everyone! When he ties his best friend for last place, he's devastated. Grandpa heals him with a winner's badge and reassurances that anyone who tries something new, is a winner. Ages 4-6. (Clarion, 1986)
Shirley Hughes' Wheels tells the story of two best friends, Carlos and Billy who race each other on old clunky bikes through the neighborhood. All this changes when Billy gets a shiny new bike and Carlos asks his mother if he can get a bike for his birthday. As he faces the probability that his family can't afford a new bike, Carlos realizes that he can no longer keep up with Billy's bike. Carlos loves his birthday presents, but can't hide his disappointment at not receiving the vehicle of his dreams. All is turned around when his older brother Marco presents him with a hand made go-cart... a go-cart with room for two that lead Billy and Carlos to victory in the Non-Bicycle Race! This is one of a series of Trotter Street tales by writer-illustrator Shirley Hughes. All these books show a deep understanding of childhood emotion and a real commitment to representing all race and economic backgrounds. Besides story appeal, the work deserves praise for featuring a Hispanic hero! Ages 4-8. (Lothrop, 1991)
I've known many children who are attached to blankets and stuffed animals, but not until Dennis Kyte's Merry Christmas, Bigelow Bear have I read of a child devoted to a truck. To Bigelow, Ollie is more friend, than toy. They do everything together and when Christmas draws near and Bigelow is asked to participate in activities he is quick to remark.."Ollie,too!" Somehow with the flurry of projects and an adoring grandma's arrival, Ollie is forgotten, tearful in the closed toy garage. Suddenly, Bigelow remembers, gathers Christmas ornaments and creates an automotive wonderland for Ollie and...himself, too! Ages 3-6. (Doubleday, 1990)
I am very happy to note a female presence in vehicle books. David McPhail's Ed and Me begins one Christmas when Ed, an old blue truck, comes to live with a father and daughter. The small girl notes how quickly he starts up after spending a winter buried in snow. She praises and nurtures him in every season, decorating him wildly for the Fourth of July parade and tenderly transporting small loads of fire wood to put less strain on his old back in the fall. As the year comes to an end, she hates to think of Ed buried in snow once again. She and her tender-hearted father join forces to build Ed a cozy barn, which they finish just as the first snowflake lands on the girl's nose. So refreshing to have trucks from a female point of view and what better thing for a small girl to nurture than an old blue truck. Even before seeing the photo of Ed on the author's flap, I had a sense that the warmth of this story came from personal experience. Ages 3-7. (HBJ, 1990)
Curious Angela of Robert Munch's Angela's Airplane loses her father at an airport and wanders into an untended plane. She presses buttons until the plane is aloft, manages landing the plane which smashes into tiny pieces. Angela emerges without a scratch. (The illustrations shows her dirty, sitting amid the rubble holding the controls) Angela's father extracts a promise that she will never fly again and she doesn't for a long time...when she finally becomes an airplane pilot. Ages 4-7. (Firefly Books, 1988)
One of the most fascinating machines ever to appear in the pages of literature was H.G. Well's The Time Machine. Now through the excellent adaption of Les Martin, the classic becomes accessible to beginning readers! Ages 7-11. ((Random House, 1990)