LET'S GO, CONSTRUCTION TRUCKS!

Active toddlers will quickly figure out how to make the interactive wheels on this board book spin in tandem.

Initially part of a dump truck, with successive page turns, the raised wheels embedded in two die-cut circles cut through each page become part of a steamroller, excavator, concrete mixer, bulldozer, and more. This design works for the youngest builders, but older toddlers will wonder why the caterpillar treads of the streamroller, excavator, and crane don’t move with the wheels. The final vehicle, a crane, reveals the trick that makes the wheels turn together—a center sprocket. Two sentences of rhyming text per page provide basic information about each truck and its role on a construction site. One (seemingly arbitrarily chosen) word in each sentence is highlighted in a larger font. The name of each vehicle is also printed in enlarged type in white block letters outlined in a contrasting color. Pictures of the chunky, colorful vehicles against solid-color backgrounds give toddlers something else to talk about, but turning the pages and spinning the wheels remain the focus. The repetitive text on the recto page below the wheels quickly becomes a refrain for young readers: “Make my wheels spin. Let construction begin!”

Other books cover the same ground. Still, the interactive possibilities, salient information, and predictable text make this title road ready for the sandbox set.