School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 2-It's a rainy day and the roads are muddy and slushy with melting snow. When a bright yellow school bus loaded with children becomes stranded, the driver phones for help. A vibrantly red tow truck and its mustached driver make their way through the slippery streets to come to the rescue: "Splishy-splashy/wet HOORAY!/Our hero for a rainy day.../is RED TRUCK!" At times the language sounds forced, as when "mud" rhymes with "could," but Red Truck's determination and the story's pacing are undeniably fun. The lighthearted paintings convey movement through the diagonal lines of the truck climbing uphill and the slant of falling raindrops. The vehicles and characters are depicted in bold primary colors that sparkle against the gray winter backdrops. Both the pictures and the large-font text reinforce the urgency of Red Truck's mission. Attention to detail, such as the children's drawings on foggy bus windows, is an added delight. With plenty of rhymes and onomatopoeia, just a sentence or two per page, and bright illustrations, this book is appropriate for beginning readers or for sharing aloud with young truck fans.-Julie R. Ranelli, Queen Anne's County Free Library, Stevensville, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.