Deines Hundal
A girl recalls the enchanted summer day when her father, who owns a fleet of trucks, brings home the eponymous, brand-new, "dazzling red" dump truck. Hundal (November Boots) begins a bit haltingly, yet soon picks up steam, while Deines's (Prairie Summer, also by Hundal) diffused-light acrylics create a testament to the simple pleasures of a hot, lazy afternoon. The truck becomes almost totemic in the eyes of the narrator and her siblings: as the girl approaches Number 21 for the first time, she says, "I slip forward to trace the parts of our phone number with my finger," her shy reverence captured in a spot illustration. In a surprise twist, Dad fills up the back of the dump truck with water from the garden hose, so "our wonderful truck is now a wonderful pool!" Deines first renders the pool with its reflected clouds and sky with a nod to Monet's serene lily ponds, then, on the next page, he shows the children gleefully shattering the mood as they splash, careen and cannonball through the once placid surface. The final two pages feel anticlimactic by comparison, but everything that comes before makes this a choice for truck fans everywhere. Ages 4-7. (May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
K-Gr 3-On a hot summer day, three children await the arrival of their father and his brand new shiny, red truck. Dad is in the trucking business and has finally replaced his trusty old Number 14 with this newer model, Number 21. The siblings have great fun exploring its bells and whistles, and the discovery of three chocolate bars only adds to their enjoyment. Dad has even more surprises in store as he disappears with a garden hose and the kids are told to put on their bathing suits. He has transformed the dump box of the truck into a temporary swimming pool. The romp is capped off by a torrent of water emptying out of the truck, much to the delight of the youngsters and the dismay of the adults as they realize the water has washed all of the gravel out of their drive. The story ends with the father spreading new gravel down the lane. This sweet family vignette is illustrated with impressionistic paintings suffused with the warm tones of a summer day. Although the traditional layout employs text on the pages opposing the primary illustrations, the use of characters on the white space surrounding the typeface draws readers into the pictures and does a nice job of connecting the story to the visual narrative. This tale offers a bit more substance than the many other stories available for the legions of truck enthusiasts.-Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
