WHEELS! Children’s Picture Books about Cars, Trucks, Diggers & More.
May 2nd, 2013
Bonnie · Staff Recommendations
May 12-18, 2013 is National Transportation Week. I thought this was a good time to recommend some of my favorite books about cars, trucks, fire engines, and other equipment that seem to particularly appeal to young children. Some of these books are classics, some are more recent, but all these picture books are sure to please your truck loving children.
This year’s Summer Reading Game theme is “Dig into Reading” and I will have an Earth Movers themed week! Crafts, books, contests and more all about trucks that dig. Some of the following books will be read and talked about with the children. Ask me more about this wonderful Summer program when you stop by the Children’s Room. Vrooooom!
– Miss Bonnie, Children’s Librarian
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey RinkerThis is a wonderful bedtime story for any young fan of big machinery. The illustrations have that old fashioned feel, done in muted colors. The perfect length for preschoolers.
Dirt Movers by Petrina Gentile, Bobbie KalmanIn this non-fiction book devoted to those giants of machinery, children will learn about giant wheels, about crawlers, about buckets, dumpers, and dipper arms. After a few reads they will want to impress you by identifying each machine themselves. Ages 4 and up.
Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That GoRichard Scarry is one of the world’s best-loved children’s authors ever! His books are always filled with fun, and always filled with fun pictures which children can pour over again and again and again. The very young will enjoy this, but even 11, 12, and 13 year-olds have been know to read it again nostalgically.
My Big Truck Book by Roger PriddyA sturdy book with great pictures, this book is sure to have the kids saying “car, car, vroom, vroom” and more. Not too many pages, but each one has many different kinds of trucks. This is another one of those books that will have the children wanting to identify each one (over and over again!)
Where do Diggers Sleep at Night? by Brianna Caplan Sayres“…a solid choice for any truck-obsessed preschooler… Fun, imaginative verse appears on every page.” says School Library Journal, and I completely agree! Featuring dump trucks, garbage trucks, fire trucks, snowplows and more. Perfect for bedtime.
Truck Board Book by Donald CrewsIn this wordless Caldecott Honor book, striking graphics help little ones follow a big red truck on its bustling journey. Make up your own story or let your little one tell you what they think is happening. Ages 4-8.
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel: Story and Pictures by Virginia Lee BurtonA modern classic. Since it was first published in 1939, this book has been enjoyed by generations of children. A very satisfying story for 3-8 year olds, it is a story of friendship, old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity.
Fire Engine Man by Andrea ZimmermanA great book for a toddler, the pictures are colorful and sweet. It’s a story of a boy who wants to own a fire truck and what he would do if he had one.
Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee BurtonYoungsters love the story of Katy, a big red tractor, and how she saves the day when a huge snowstorm hits the city. A favorite with 3-6 year olds.
I Stink! by Kate McMullanI love this unique picture book and so does my son, it is so funny! A rip roaring celebration of the joys of sanitation, using the alphabet to name some of the yucky stuff in the trash truck.