Count the trucks getting stuck in a traffic jam in this rhythmic read-aloud sure to draw in kids who love everything on wheels.
One ice-cream truck selling everything sweet breaks down and blocks the middle of our street.
If you’re a little boy on a bike, an ice-cream truck on your street is always a welcome sight. But what if the truck breaks down and blocks the mail truck behind it (now there are two), not to mention a third truck carrying hay? One by one, trucks of all types and sizes and functions are sure to pile up behind, offering ample opportunity for ogling — and counting. And maybe the boy’s idea for putting one of the trucks to good use might even save the day!
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
A Counting Book About Trucks
By NebraskaIcebergs
Ironically, more children's counting books have been published than I can count. Any new counting book needs an original concept, or at least the things being counted should have a high appeal. Mark Lee should find an eager audience among boys for his book about trucks.Told in rhyme, Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street starts out with the ever-popular and familiar ice-cream truck "selling everything sweet". Alas, the truck breaks down, blocking the middle of the street. Next up is a mail truck, which soon finds itself stuck because of the broken-down ice-cream truck. Third is a truck carrying hay, which gets stopped in its tracks by the two stuck trucks ahead of it. One by one, a yellow-helmeted boy on a red bike counts the trucks which roll up his street only to find themselves stuck, until there are twenty trucks blocking the road. For a counting book, Lee has created an entertaining story whose ultimate solution belongs to the boy and not the adults.Illustrator Kurt Cyrus uses a bright color palette with high visual appeal. The twenty big trucks, depicted from a variety of perspectives, dominate the pages. Sometimes a sole truck appears on a page, other times multiple trucks, and sometimes a spread depicts all twenty trucks. Boys will love identifying all the different trucks. Secondary to the trucks are the people, who include a range of body shapes and ethnicities. Cyrus rightly makes the young yellow-helmeted boy on his red bike the only constant presence.Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street brought back fond memories for me of the days when my young brother would clap his hands excitedly whenever he saw a truck. As an elementary school resource teacher, the majority of my students are boys. While I have to be honest and say video games would be number one on most of their minds, trucks are among their next favorite topics. I even have a student this year who wants to write a book about trucks. Perhaps Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street can serve as inspiration?In my interview with author Mark Lee, he shared that "... writing Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street was my attempt to write something inspired by the classics of children's literature. It makes me very happy that someone, somewhere, will read this book aloud to a child." I will be taking his book to school to read to my younger students. Who will you share Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street with today?
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Beep, Beep. Watch out for that Big Truck Book!
By Maria O'Connor
Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street had an excellent review in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, June 8, 2013.I love giving books to young readers and this book is a joy to share. The story, the pictures, the feel of the book -- my Father, Nephew, Grandnephew and friends who are new Parent's loved it. I even gave a copy to my friend who is a Pediatrician, for his office.This is a book to make the Boys (and Girls) in your life smile.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.Many reasons why this great book will be tempting to young readers
By Denis Vukosav
“Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street” written by Mark Lee and illustrated by Kurt Cyrus is an entertaining picture book written in rhymes that teaches children to count and show them that the age is not most important to be wise because even the youngest can sometimes have the best ideas.The story starts when popular ice-cream truck that sells everything sweet will break down and block the middle of street. Right behind it a mail truck will stop and soon the third will come that carries hay, all stopping because the middle of the street is blocked.Then reader will meet a yellow-helmeted boy on a red bike that will slowly count one by one truck, until the twentieth, all of which got stuck in traffic due to a broken ice cream truck. And although no one will expect it, this smart boy in the end will help adults and find a solution to this problem…“Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street” is nicely designed children book that carries a great lesson while its rhythm and rhyme makes it extremely catchy so children without effort will be able to learn it by heart.Especially beautiful are book illustrations where Kurt Cyrus used bright colors which have high visual appeal showing twenty trucks, big and small, from different perspectives, over the whole page. Although the book title might suggest that the illustrations could be similar or uniform, the illustrator has skillfully avoided that trap using, besides above-mentioned different perspectives, different size and number of trucks on different pages – sometimes one or few, or all twenty of them in bird's eye view.Therefore Lee’s picture book for many reasons will be tempting to young readers - both for those who love trucks because inside its covers different sizes and types can be found, those who love the well-made stories because the author has made an effort to tell his story in perfect rhythm, and particularly to those who love good lesson because on this issue this picture book manages to be special, as well.My little girl mostly liked its rhymes because she is still too small to enjoy other respects, but in any case I can fully recommend “Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street” for all children from 3 years onwards.
