A great way to demonstrate to the lap-sitting crowd that books are about the thrilling things they see and the games they play.” —Booklist
“Young children, fascinated by the sounds, actions, and sheer enormity of these vehicles will find much to like in these busy scenes.” —Kirkus Reviews
The Barnes & Noble Review
Dig dig dig! Vroom vroom vroom! These are just some of the sounds children will be chanting with Margaret Mayo and Alex Ayliffe's new picture book about large vehicles.
In simple verses and bright cut-paper images, big machines are given ample space to show their stuff in action. Some of the machines are safety vehicles like fire engines ("Fire engines are good at race, race, racing./Look out! Look out! Bright lights flashing") and rescue helicopters ("Helicopters are good at whir, whir, whirring, hovering and zooming, rotor blades whizzing"), along with construction equipment and heavy-duty trucks. Each page's flowing verse concludes with the repeating phrase "They can work all day," but the last page tells that after a hard day's work, it's finally time to rest: "No beep-beeping, no vroom-vrooming. Shhh! They can rest all night."
Those who love working machines will enjoy testing their sound-making skills, and bright pictures will get them anxious to spot real vehicles in action. It might even spark creative minds to write their own vehicle poems or make paper images of other machines. A fun book to have on hand during construction season or while traveling, this busy book will get readers revved up! (Matt Warner)
Kids who clamor for construction site action will appreciate the board book edition of Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo, illus. by Alex Ayliffe. PW wrote of the original edition, "this vibrant volume explores the unique capabilities of 11 vehicles, from construction trucks to rescue helicopters." Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
PreS-K-Bold, bright spreads present visual word poems about large trucks, tractors, and cranes and the work they do. Often the shape of the rhyme reflects the action performed by the machine. For example, the bold, black print describing fire engines arcs and curves like the water splashing from the fireman's hose. Text about the bulldozer bumps across the page. "Bulldozers are good at push, push, pushing, over rough, bumpy ground, scraping and shoving." The verse on every page ends with the refrain, "They can work all day." Although not all of the rhymes are equally satisfying, they successfully move readers from page to page, truck to truck. The large, simple images in vivid colors and wide, uncluttered spreads will appeal to young children. Stylized skyscrapers dot the horizon in contrasting colors of purple and pink or blue and white, against very blue, sunny skies. The people are all Lego-like in appearance. The last spread, at the end of a very busy book, quiets its colors, with motors off and machines at rest. This book will rev the engines of those youngsters who love vehicles.-Alice Casey Smith, Sayreville Public Schools, Parlin, NJ Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Diggers are good at dig, dig, digging, / scooping up the earth, and lifting and tipping. / They make huge holes with their dig, dig, digging. / They can work all day." With simple rhymes and bold illustrations, Mayo (Wiggle Waggle Fun, 2002, etc.) and Ayliffe (The Busy Building Book, not reviewed, etc.) introduce 11 working vehicles. As the title and cover suggest, most of them are used in construction. Created out of cut and torn papers, Ayliffe's vibrant collages fill each double-page spread. "Diggers," for example, shows the bright red machine against an expanse of mustard yellow earth; a turquoise blue fence surrounds the site and pink, lilac, and blue buildings speckle the horizon. Mayo widens her lens by putting the spotlight on "Fire Engines" and "Rescue Vehicles." Depicting the former, Ayliffe places the vehicle against a purple slope and yellow sky; the fire engine reaches across the length of the page while an arc of water, which appears to be created out of translucent tracing paper, blasts into a burning building ("Fire engines are good at race, race, racing. / Look out! Look out! Bright lights flashing. / Hoses at the ready for swoosh, swoosh, swooshing. / They can work all day"). Tractors and garbage trucks are also highlighted. The final illustration shows the vehicles cloaked in twilight hues ("Brakes on, / engines off, the sun is setting. / No beep-beeping, no vroom-vrooming. / Shhh! / They can rest all night"). Young children, fascinated by the sounds, actions, and sheer enormity of these vehicles will find much to like in these busy scenes. (Picture book. 3-5)
