"Quietly lyrical."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"An instant classic."
BookPage (starred review)
This charming debut is…a simple, beautifully constructed story about continuity and ingenuity…The Pumphreys have created a book that's both timeless and au courant.
The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo
★ 11/25/2019
In the Pumphrey brothers’ debut, an old truck’s maturation mirrors a brown-skinned girl’s growth into adulthood. “On a small farm, an old truck worked hard,” the narrative begins as illustrations reveal the family’s corresponding exertion, loading bushel baskets filled with veggies into the truck’s bed. As “the old truck rested,” weeds slowly covering its wheels, then its body, it also serves as a vehicle for the child’s imagination (“The old truck sailed the seas,/ braved the skies,/ and chased the stars”). As the young woman matures, she finishes rebuilding a tractor she began working on with her father, becomes “a new farmer,” and employs the tractor in towing the truck, then restoring it. The narrative comes full circle as the old truck, now repainted and running, works hard once again alongside the farmer and her own daughter. The illustrations, created from more than 250 stamps, resonate in spare compositions and mellow earth tones. A celebration of diligence and grit, the quiet text conjures a cyclical Giving Tree –reminiscent relationship, but with a healthier, deeply loving dynamic. Ages 3–5. (Jan.)
"Infused with cheer and playfulness."
Horn Book Magazine (starred review)
"The Pumphreys have created a book that’s both timeless and au courant."
New York Times Book Review
"This affectionate, pithy, and eloquent homage to farm life...is uncommonly charming and rewards repeat readings."
Booklist (starred review)
★ 12/01/2019
PreS-Gr 1— The Pumphrey brothers crafted more than 250 individual stamps to create splendid retro, full-bleed illustrations to accompany the saga of a farm truck's life. The red pickup is a mainstay in the family, as a young girl helps her parents with crops and critters. When the vehicle is no longer reparable, it sits abandoned near her bedroom window. She dreams of it converting into a tow for her submarine, a helicopter, or taking her to outer space. The girl grows up as the book progresses. The truck is covered by snow, then foliage, then disappears into long grasses. Many seasons later, the young woman restores the truck to assist her own running of the farm. VERDICT The simple text in this gentle chronicle of years blazes with the power of family, determination, and perseverance.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
★ 2019-09-15
Brothers Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey created over 250 stamps to create the striking illustrations that give the book a distinct look and echo the message of hard work and persistence pouring from it. The declarative simplicity of the text is perfect for an emerging reader without betraying the strength of the story. As the book describes how hardworking the truck is, readers see the smiling, brown-skinned parents and daughter, wordlessly at work. The family can be seen loading produce onto the truck, carrying baskets back into the barn, feeding chickens, and fixing the truck. The placement of the sun on the horizon line demonstrates how long the family works each day. At night, the daughter dreams: "The old truck sailed the seas, / braved the skies, / and chased the stars." As the truck ages, so does the family; most notably, readers see the girl grow into a woman. Now "the new farmer," she tows the truck out of tall grass. She works long into the night to repair it. But dreams and persistence pay off: "VROOOOOOOM!!" This heartfelt celebration of resilience in the face of change, with a determined black woman at its center, packs a powerful punch.
As the old truck stays with its family, this charming book will stay with readers. (Picture book. 4-8)
