Smash! Crash!

Starred review from January 7, 2008
Little gearheads will rally to this demolition derby, carried out by a gregarious all-motorized cast. Jack Truck, a red flatbed with chrome exhaust stacks, and best friend Dump Truck Dan, a blue guy with a yellow cab and mud flaps, adore the smash and crash of work in progress. To stir up noisy trouble, \x93Jack and Dan charge Cement Mixer Melvin,\x94 who mixes sand and water for his job. \x93No. I can\x92t get messy,\x94 Melvin tells them, but with a \x93smash-crash!\x94 mischievous Jack and Dan leave him covered in gray glop. The friends help Monster Truck Max stack orange-and-white oil drums, and they assist baby-pink Gabriella Garbage Truck (who has a teddy bear tied to her front bumper) in building a pirate fort from an old boat. Scieszka (Math Curse) revs readers up with gear-grinding noise and rowdy antics that echo Pixar\x92s animated Cars. Celebrated illustrators Shannon, Long and Gordon embed mechanical shapes in their punchy display type, and they contribute panoramic vistas of Jack and Dan\x92s playgrounds: freshly dug foundations, vast junkyards and dusty lots with buildings slated for destruction. In a nod to Scieszka\x92s \x93Guys Read\x94 initiative, most of the machines are male, but the burliest of all is Wrecking Crane Rosie, so tall she requires a vertical gatefold. Heads and taillights above legions of other truck titles, this smash-crash series opener is bound to be a hit. Ages 3-7.

January 1, 2008
PreS-Gr 1-Scieszka teamed up with Shannon, Long, and Gordon to create a vibrant locale inhabited by personified vehicles. In this rollicking escapade, best pals Jack Truck and Dump Truck Dan are in the mood for smashing and crashing. They search for other friends to join in, including Cement Mixer Melvin, Monster Truck Max, and Grater Kat, but they are all too busy working. Although they interrupt their friends' tasks, Jack and Dan's smashing and crashing ultimately helps each truck get the job done. Throughout the story, the comrades continually flee from a menacing shadow. It turns out to be Wrecking Crane Rosie, who demands that they follow her; Jack and Dan are surprised to discover she needs their help to smash and crash a building. Told in brief catchy language, the story zooms along with plenty of pizzazz and action. Children will want to jump in and repeat the "Smash! Crash!" refrain. The winning full-color digital artwork adds plenty of personality to the characters and perfectly suits the text. A foldout page illustrates Rosie's imposing height, and endpapers introduce the cast. Entertaining as a group read-aloud or one-on-one selection, this book is sure to be a hit with truck lovers. Be on the lookout for more "Trucktown" adventures."Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Richfield, OH"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2007
Likepreschoolers at play on the floor, this big, wild, noisy, rambunctious picture book is packed with action as two friends, Jack Truck and Dump Truck Dan, hit the road. They charge at Cement Mixer Melvin, play pirates with Gabriella Garbage Truck, and smack, whack, and stack. Unlike many truck books for the very young child, this one hasa simple story: a big, scary voicein the background turns out to be Wrecking Crane Rosie, who takes the two friendsalong to help her smash a building. Thetruck friendslove it, and so will kids. Some of the neon-colored computer graphics seem too packed and busy at times, but the trucks expressive faces, with headlights as eyes, are lots of fun, as are the endpapers, whichpicture individual vehicles relating tough comments, such as Out of my way.As thefirst in Jon ScieszkasTrucktown series ofhigh-energy books for preschoolers, this bodeswell for thenumerous titles to follow.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2008
Truck buddies Jack and Dan live to wreck havoc. They're not villains, though: their energy is channeled into helping friends build a play pirate fort and demolishing an old building. It can be hard to tell what's going on in the discombobulatingly frantic illustrations, but kids who like this sort of thing will enjoy all the smashing and crashing.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)