The Little Black Truck - Softcover

Gray, Libba Moore

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689821352 ISBN 13: 9780689821356

Publisher: Aladdin, 1998

Synopsis

A little black truck who carried all sorts of cargo in all sorts of weather is left in the woods to rust when its engine stops, but years later the original owner's grandson takes it upon himself to bring the truck back to life. Reprint.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 1-The seasonal activities of a '40s-style black truck are chronicled: rolling past the schoolhouse; carrying bushels of tomatoes or a load of fat pumpkins; hauling a Christmas tree. After repeating the cycle many times, the heavily used vehicle finally wears out and is towed far away and abandoned. As it deteriorates, birds use string from its seats to build nests and rabbits live under it. Many years later, a young man finds it and, thinking that it looks like his grandfather's pickup, rebuilds and refurbishes it. Loaded again with apples and other things, the little black truck rolls to the country fair and home again sporting blue ribbons. Short refrains of truck sounds punctuate the simple, repetitive text and add auditory interest for young children, e.g., "Beepedy beep/ Chug chug/Perka perka/Pop pop/ Stop." The large, impressionistic, full-color illustrations have the soft, sculptural shapes and rounded use of line reminiscent of Chris Van Allsburg's work. Changes in perspective also add interest, and the palette of greens, golds, and rusts effectively serves as a backdrop for the black vehicle. Similar in plot to Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House (Houghton, 1978), but without quite the same emotional impact.
Cynthia K. Richey, Mt. Lebanon Public Library, Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Ages 5-7. Like Mike Mulligan's steam shovel, Mary Ann, a little black truck, gets a second chance at life. In the first part of its happy rural existence, the truck and its unseen driver fetch and haul produce against backdrops of spring green, harvest gold, and winter white. As the truck ages, the sounds it makes change from "Perka perka / Pop pop / Stop" to "Sluggedy slug." Left to rust in the woods, it is discovered and restored by a young man who thinks it might have belonged to his grandfather. Now going "Hummedy hum," the truck happily hauls again, this time through a world somewhat changed but bound together by the county fair. The pictures, in which landscapes almost always dominate, are soft-edged images that blanket rural life and the little black truck with an aura of affection. Mary Harris Veeder

About this edition

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0689821352
• ISBN 13: 9780689821356
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Sayles Elizabeth