If Mother Goose had diesel in her teacup . . .
From the library, I borrowed a copy of Truckery Rhymes by Jon Scieszka, beloved former Ambassador of Children's Literature, illustrated with characters developed by David Shannon, Loren Long and David Gordon, with a whole illustration team (drawings by Juan Pablo Navas, color by Isabel Nadal and Gabriela Lazbal).
Truckery Rhymes is part of the Trucktown series of books put out by Simon & Schuster and created by Scieszka and others. It features 22 rhymes based on Mother Goose rhymes and nursery songs, with some of the names changed to the names of the various truck characters (which, I am guessing, carry over from book to book within the series). The first rhyme in the book is "Jack Be Nimble."
Jack Be Nimble
Jack be nimble.
Jack be quick.
Jack smash through the wall of brick.
The illustration shows an ambulance watching in astonishment as the cab of a big rig drives off across a field, having driven straight through a brick wall.
The rhymes kept me giggling throughout. How can you not laugh at "Three LOUD Trucks"?
Three LOUD trucks.
Three LOUD trucks.
See how they ZOOM.
See how they ZOOM.
They all jumped over the muck and goo.
They skidded and screeched and their mufflers blew.
Did you ever see such a crazy crew?
As three LOUD trucks.
Three LOUD trucks.
Some of the rhymes scan better than others - there are some, such as "Eenie Meanie Mynie Mo" that add extra syllables beyond what are contained in the original rhymes, making them tough to read "properly" the first time (or, in my case, the second and third times), but the ones that are good are very good indeed.
Highly recommended for parents of young children, especially those who love trucks and tractors and/or who like to laugh and be silly (and really, that's most of them, yes?)
