vehicles

Take a Ride in These 3 New Picture Books

| Tasha

Diggers, Dozers & Dumpers: Small Stories about Big Machines by Ole Könnecke, translated by Melody Shaw

Publisher: Gecko Press

Publication Date: May 6, 2025

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9798765667552

Opening this book, readers are greeted by a staring cow, a blue duck with a wand, and an alligator driving a dozer. In very short stories that cover just a few pages at most, readers are introduced to a different sort of large machine and the characters show how they can be used. The characters range from farm animals to giraffe to moose, each depicted in a merry and playful way. Best of all, this is a book about big machinery that can actually be shared aloud and enjoyed by kids who like the machines and those who aren’t entirely enamored. 

Whimsical and heavy machinery have never gone together better. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Mama Car by Lucy Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: November 4, 2025

Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley

ISBN: 9780316578035

A little girl has her own tricycle. Her father has a car. And her mother drives a wheelchair. The two of them go on expeditions together from the snuggly bed to the kitchen for snacks after making a list. They take the Mama Car together. The little girl helps a lot with moving toys, reaching things, and holding stuff. She also helps decorate Mama Car. When she has a little accident riding her tricycle, Mama Car is there to pick her up, keep her cozy and make her feel safe. 

Written by an author who uses a wheelchair, this story is based on what one of her daughters used to call her wheelchair. The book is a merry and loving look at a parent using a wheelchair and the adventures they have together that use the chair. I love that the story is entirely positive and told from the point of view of a small child who simply sees the chair as part of life and nothing to be worried about. The illustrations are friendly and large format, adding to the child appeal of the story. 

Wheel this one onto your library shelves. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Sleeper Train by Mick Jackson, illustrated by Baljinder Kaur

Publisher: Candlewick

Publication Date: July 15, 2025

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9781536238983

A little girl goes on an overnight train with her parents. They have their own compartment, but she just can’t fall asleep easily. So she starts to think about all the various places she has slept before. There is her parents’ bed at home, a hotel near the sea, on a beach, in a tent, in the hospital, and staying over at her grandparents’ home. Soon she had fallen asleep on the train. In the morning, there was breakfast on the train and soon they arrived at their destination. 

This picture book shares a way of travel that many children may not have experienced themselves and makes it approachable. I enjoyed that it focused on the variety of places a child may have slept, inviting the reader to see their own experiences alongside the character’s. The illustrations show a Sikh family traveling the train in India. The pictures use spicy colors of saffron and chili with cool teals to create a vibrant experience.

An engaging trip on the train. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

3 Picture Books That Rumble and Roll

| Tasha

Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan (9781665938150)

Mabel has a Monday routine. Her family thinks she’s cute and funny, but she doesn’t care. First, she needs a chair. Then she pours herself dry cereal for breakfast, then it’s out to the driveway to watch and wait. Finally it’s here! The glorious garbage truck. It’s the best part of the day and everyone else missed it.

I could read this picture book again and again, it’s so joyous. Awan captures the pleasure of a routine, the amazement of large machinery and the focus of a small child with such a mix of humor and dignity. Let’s be honest, there aren’t many books out there where a truck-loving girl can see herself reflected. And lots of truck books don’t work well for reading aloud. This one does!

Perfect for a trashy story time. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Faith Takes the Train by Kesi Augustine, illustrated by Mokshini (9780063251342)

Faith and her mother are taking the train home from Grandma’s house. They take this train often. Faith is eating a peanut-butter-and-jelly-and honey sandwich. Then she sees their old neighbor Isaiah stand up and ask for some help or some food. Even though her heart pounds, Faith offers Isaiah the rest of her sandwich. Faith wonders if there’s a way to continue to help Isaiah and his family. Perhaps it’s one sandwich at a time.

The jaunty train ride turns into something more profound as one little girl reaches out and makes a difference. The writing is easy to read aloud and the illustrations share a diverse urban experience.

A great addition to any storytime about transportation or helping others. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by HarperCollins.

Midnight Motorbike by Maureen Shay Tajsar, illustrated by Ishita Jain (9780823456628)

When it is too hot to sleep, Amma takes her daughter for a ride on her motorbike. The two travel through Indian villages heading to the Bay of Bengal. The journey is one of many senses from the bright flowers to the smell of chai and dosas, to the sight of rice flour designs to fool the red ants. There is the smell of the jasmine flower garlands and the beauty of the fabrics in the silk shop. When they reach the bay, there is the huge moon waiting for them and the little girl falls asleep in the moonlight.

This is such an evocative book based on the author’s summers with her mother in rural South India. The story is a mixture of magical motorcycle ride that is dreamlike and connection with India’s sensory experiences of flowers, food and customs. The illustrations are just as lush as a hot night, filled with rich colors that weave a gorgeous nighttime journey.

Just the right bedtime story for hot summer nights. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Keeping the City Going by Brian Floca

| Tasha

Keeping the City Going by Brian Floca (9781534493773)

This picture book by Caldecott Award winner Floca explores the Covid-19 pandemic. Through New York City streets, the book shows how most people were forced to stay indoors and watch the streets go quiet. But the streets never emptied entirely, since there were people working at essential jobs. People were still out and about using all sorts of vehicles. There were people delivering mail and packages, people heading to work in hospitals, others making food deliveries on their bicycles, still others picking up trash, and police and fire protecting everyone. Then every night, the windows opened and people shouted and banged their appreciation for these people who kept on working through the danger and the emptiness to keep everyone safe, fed and looked after.

The text in the book is simple, explaining what happened to cause the streets to empty as people took refuge in their homes to stay safe. The book shows vehicles of all sorts but also shows lovely moments of connection, of toys being delivered or taxis stopping to get someone with lots of grocery bags.

Floca tells us in his Author’s Note that he created these images during the pandemic’s height in New York City. As the streets emptied, he found solace in drawing the vehicles that continued to move through the city. He then took those images and made them into this book, which explains the aching melancholy of some of the images as they show the empty streets and the vast change to a normally bustling city.

A beautiful yearning look at New York City in 2020 with plenty of interesting vehicles to explore. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Atheneum.

Two Dogs on a Trike by Gabi Snyder

| Tasha

Two Dogs on a Trike by Gabi Snyder

Two Dogs on a Trike by Gabi Snyder, illustrated by Robin Rosenthal (9781419738913)

Count up to ten with the help of a lot of dogs and one sneaky cat in this picture book. One dog is alone, but soon joins another dog on a trike. They become three dogs on a scooter, four on a bike. Then five dogs on a trolley and six on a train. Seven on a ferry and eight on a plane, then nine dogs in a hot-air balloon. Ten dogs in a UFO? Wait! Is that a cat? Soon the dogs are moving back through the vehicles, decreasing by one each time, until there are two cats on a trike.

Told very simply, this book has a wonderful fast pace that makes it great fun to share aloud. The vehicles are varied and interesting, making each page turn a surprise. The rhymes are gentle and add to the wildness of the book at just the right moments. The art is graphic and strong, the dogs silly and varied with googly eyes. Readers will see the cat right from the start, which creates a tug of anticipation through the entire first part of the book.

A great book that happens to have counting too. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Abrams Appleseed.

Review: Vroom! by Barbara McClintock

| Tasha

Vroom! by Barbara McClintock

Vroom! by Barbara McClintock (9781626722170)

One evening, Annie puts on her helmet and gloves and drives her car right out her bedroom window and out onto the road. The road is straight and flat, just right for driving really fast. When she reaches the mountains, the road gets curvy and cold, then descends into the hot desert. She drives through a forest, then across a huge bridge and into a city where she gets caught in traffic for awhile. She goes fast through the traffic jam, and then faster onto a racetrack. Getting tired, she heads for home, arriving just in time for a bedtime story about cars.

This picture book embraces imaginative play in a little girl’s world as she pretends to be taking the perfect drive. Her white car is pristine at the beginning of the story and ends up covered in dirt and grass with a little smoke coming out of the hood. Annie doesn’t bother to slow down much and not even her imaginary traffic jam can hold her for long. The book, just like Annie, is fast moving with just enough words to hold the story together. The illustrations are filled with the dust of Annie’s racing past. Done in bright colors, the world around her is friendly and vivid with Annie at its center going fast.

A wild ride of a book that is a joy. Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 

 

Review: My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero

| Tasha

My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero

My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Pena (9780525553410)

Daisy loves to ride with her father on his motorcycle. After he finishes his work in construction, he always has time for an evening ride with her. They ride like a comet on the hot asphalt, zigzagging through the streets. Together they rumble through their Southern California town and visit all of the sites that Daisy loves. There is Joy’s Market where they see their librarian shopping. Murals on the walls tell the story of their history as Mexican-Americans. They plan to stop for a sweet treat, but the store has closed. They pass her grandparent’s home with happy waves and a plan to visit tomorrow. Their ride ends with a visit to her father’s workplace and then a curving race around Grand Boulevard. They return home to find that the owner of the closed shop has is running a food cart instead.

Quintero’s text is lush and beautiful. It’s remarkable for a picture book to use language the way that she does, yet she manages it without leaving small children behind. It is particularly evident in the places where Daisy’s imagination soars. As Daisy pictures them as a comet flying, Quintero’s prose flies alongside her imagination lifting it with colors, and sentences like “We become a spectacular celestial thing soaring on asphalt.” What more could a reader want?

The illustrations are a true celebration of the community Daisy and her Papi right through. The murals are shown in bright colors, the city itself bathed in the heat and sunshine of a summer day. Perspectives are done playfully at times with chasing dogs and narrow streets.

A summer treat of a book, this one is worth the ride. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Kokila.

Review: Monkey on the Run by Leo Timmers

| Tasha

Monkey on the Run by Leo Timmers

Monkey on the Run by Leo Timmers (9781776572502)

In this wordless picture book, Papa Monkey and his little monkey are heading home from school in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The two of them are aboard his banana-cycle with a sidecar for little monkey. But from the beginning, the little one is engaging with the other vehicles along the way. He leaps on to a firetruck that is fighting a fire on another vehicle while driving. He takes a piece of cake from a royal car with a mobile kitchen and waiters. He munches the cake in the crow’s nest of a boat with wheels. He dodges a rooster after seeing a police chase. He dangles above an ambulance, gets ice cream from an ice cream truck, and ends up with a perfect wrapped present for his mother along the way.

Timmers’ traffic filled with inventive vehicles will remind readers of Richard Scarry’s Busy Town. This art though is much more modern and the interaction between the vehicles is more robust. There is a lovely logic to each vehicle, a little story being told to the reader who slows down to explore each one. The bustle and rush of the traffic would seem to make a fast-paced book, but this is one to linger over and enjoy following the adventures of a little monkey through the wildness of the different modes of transportation.

If you have a little one obsessed with vehicles, the humor and wonder here is sure to entice them. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Gecko Press.

Review: Motor Mouse by Cynthia Rylant

| Tasha

Motor Mouse by Cynthia Rylant

Motor Mouse by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Arthur Howard (9781481491266)

The beloved author of many easy readers returns with the first book in a new series. Done in a larger picture book format, the book still has three short chapters inside. The first story focuses on the joy of having cake every Friday for our Motor Mouse and Telly. When they discover that their cake shop is closed one Friday, what will they do? Perhaps another sweet treat can save the day thanks to a friendly hedgehog. In the second story, Motor Mouse decided he’d rather look around than drive. He takes a cab but can’t quite figure out what he wants to see. In the end though, he moves from memory lane to a bowling alley to making a new friend. The last story takes Motor Mouse to the movies with his brother, Vincent. Vincent always orders one large popcorn and doesn’t quite manage to share it. So when he does the same thing, Motor Mouse insists on being the one to hold the bucket this time. But sharing can be really hard!

Told with Rylant’s beautiful writing that sets just the right curious tone on each of the short chapters, this is a fantastic picture book. With a look towards dealing with expectations, managing friendships, and learning to share and appreciate one another, the themes are universal for small children who are trying to navigate similar situations. The stories are gentle but also profound.

Howard, who has collaborated with Rylant on the Mr. Putter & Tabby series as well as the Gooseberry Park books, returns with his signature style. With clear black lines, the illustrations are bouncy and friendly even when situations get a little problematic. There is a constant optimism about Howard’s work that is particularly effective here.

A great start to a new series that is sure to be popular. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Beach Lane.

Review: I’ll Love You Till the Cows Come Home by Kathryn Cristaldi

| Tasha

i'll love you till the cows come home by kathryn cristaldi

I’ll Love You Till the Cows Come Home by Kathryn Cristaldi, illustrated by Kristyna Litten (9780062574206)

Take a jaunty trip with this picture book that looks at all sorts of animals and vehicles going on grand journeys. The book begins with cows heading to the moon in a rocket ship with the promise that “I will love you till the cows come home.” Then the verse moves on to yaks who eat grass and then take off in a fire truck. The refrain changes to match the yaks and work with the rhyme. The book progresses to sheep setting sail, wolves returning, frogs riding past, deer dancing, geese flapping down, and ants marching in. Until finally, all of the animals end up fast asleep on the final pages, exhausted from their adventures.

What could have been a saccharine rhyming tale turns out to be an active picture book filled with plenty of giggles, lots of animals and all sorts of vehicles. The rhymes are jaunty and fun without being sing-songy. The message of love is present in each of the stories but doesn’t overwhelm the dynamic fun happening on the page.

The illustrations are friendly with animals that smile and often look directly out at the reader. They are also filled with action and activity, with leaping frogs, flying geese, zooming rockets, racing trucks and much more.

A fast-moving and funny picture book. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.