WHOSE BIG RIG?

Meet specialized big rigs involved in building a light-rail system.

Caution! Here’s a board book designed for hard-core machine aficionados. Rhyming text inside striking goldenrod-colored traffic signs on the left-hand page introduces a building task. “Dig the channels so water can flow”; a second, orange sign queries, “Whose big rig is this?” The right-hand page diagrams the machine responsible for the job, with many of the relevant, often quite technical components clearly labeled. Some preschoolers will want to devour every “gripper arm” factoid, but it’s definitely optional reading. A fold-out flap offers more generally accessible information, naming and showing the team at work along with a succinct explanation. A “tunnel borer” team, for instance, will “cut through rock to make way for underground tracks.” Some big rigs, like the excavator and the bulldozer, will be old favorites, but there are many new, intriguing machines and workers to learn about, including the “tie dragon’s crew,” which lays the ties of the tracks, or the “track maintenance specialist,” who “make[s] tracks level.” Tidy illustrations provide readers with clear snapshots of the various machines, and workers are made up of racially and gender diverse crews. The final flap, showing small children playing with a toy train set who have “come to help,” is satisfying.

A dream for true big-rig fans.