The Little Dump Truck

Reviews

The titular little dump truck cheerily gives the youngest listeners the lowdown on its duties. Hard Hat Pete drives the sturdy truck through the city streets, hauling rocks and dirt to a building site where a hole is being filled. Then he waits while an excavator scoops debris for him to haul away to the landfill. While the story does not get much more involved than that, Cuyler rounds it out with lots of details: "I'm a little dump truck / turning at the light, / slowing, braking, stopping / at the building site." With its repetitive beginning phrase and close-enough rhyming scheme, those who read this aloud may find themselves singing the verses to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot." Kolar's anthropomorphized vehicles will remind more than a few children of Bob the Builder, but his use of retro colors separates his trucks from their cartoon counterparts. Blocky, computer-generated art minimizes distracting details while highlighting the important identifying clues that will help preschoolers identify objects. Construction trucks for the youngest set. – Kirkus Reviews

Hard Hat Pete and his little dump truck spend the day hauling rocks, collecting debris, and unloading it at the landfill. Each spread has a lyrical, rhyming verse that begins, “I’m a little dump truck” and goes on to explain the day’s activities. “I’m a little dump truck/leaving through the gate,/riding down the highway/to another state.” The digital artwork will appeal to young children, who will look for the face depicted on each of the various trucks. The endpapers show all of the vehicles that play a part in the illustrations. The heavy-duty pages are perfect for curious youngsters. Preschoolers will love this book. – School Library Journal

Hit the road with this truck and his driver on an exhausting and fulfilling day of dumping. Kolar’s bold and blocky computer-assisted art on clean white pages shows myriad vehicles, such as excavators and bulldozers, and their owners sporting smiles and happily going about their business. Our four-wheeled hero and his partner, Hard Hat Pete, do their part at a construction site, dumping building material, loading debris, and carting it away to a landfill. Each of the 12 full-page spreads features a four-line stanza describing the action and begins with a satisfyingly repetitive first line: “I’m a little dump truck/hauling stones and rocks,/bumping, bouncing, thumping,/crossing city blocks.” And later, “I’m a little dump truck/watching workers build,/forklifts lifting beams,/big hole being filled.” Work sounds such as “RRR-RRR-RRR” and “rattle-rattle-rattle” add to the likelihood that this offering from the creator of Big Kicks (2008) will become a fast storytime favorite. – Booklist