Author: Alice Schertle
Illustrator: Jill McElmurry
Format: Hardcover
Published: Harcourt, 2008

"Little Blue Truck / came down the road. / 'Beep!' said Blue / to a big green toad." Out for a drive, sociable Little Blue Truck greets a series of animals with a friendly "Beep!" to which each replies with the appropriate animal noise. (Of course, kids will have great fun participating in the beeps and animal sounds.) Observant readers will notice that it's raining, a fact which becomes pivotal when Little Blue Truck gets stuck in the mud. Here the story morphs into a simple version of a well-know folktale, to great effect. The animals all try to push the truck out of the mud, but they don't succeed until tiny toad adds his muscle. Great fun to read aloud with a gentle message about kindness and cooperation, Little Blue Truck is a thoroughly satisfying story. Ages 2-4.