Little Blue Truck Leads the Way - Alice Schertle

Illustrated by Jill McElmurry
Harcourt Children's, 2009
$16.00
40 pages
Rating: 5
Endpapers: rust

This book really works for me. Visually, I love it. Great size - perhaps 10 x 8. Color tones that really appeal, not too bright, not too washed out. Illustrations completely cover the page - the text is incorporated really nicely into the illustrations. The vehicles themselves have great personality. There are different views of the city from above, from WAY above, from the road, eye-to-eye. The city is depicted the way that I think of it - this could be Boston or New York...

The story is of a little blue pickup; small, old, and out-of-place in the hustle and bustle of the big city. When the pushy limousine that's driving the mayor breaks down, the little blue pickup gives him a lift. And then he teaches the push and shove, me-first crowd to chill out, be thoughtful, and enjoy life a little. At least this is my take. I liked it a great deal, on many levels.

It looks like there's another book about Blue that's already come out - Little Blue Truck. Gonna have to find it!