Picture Book Thursday: Cars and Trucks and Sheep that Go

Tin Lizzie
Written and illustrated by Alan Drummond
Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux
Age Range 4-11 years

Little Blue Truck
Written by Alice Schertle
Illustrated by Jill McElmurry
Harcourt
Age Range 3-8 years

Sheep Blast Off!
Written by Nancy E. Shaw
Illustrated by Margot Apple
Houghton Mifflin Co.
Age Range 3-8 years

Hi folks.  A snappy Picture Book Thursday to you.  I hope the holiday has found you rested and hungry for books.  With the weekend of travel behind us I thought cars and trucks and sheep that go would be an appropriate theme today.  So…here goes.

Tin Lizzie
You may come away from this book with the mantra, “You gotta have wheels!” firmly stuck in your head but you’ll also be thinking about why and how it is affecting our world.  Mr. Drummond does a nice job introducing the history of the automobile and tying it into the present day issues we face.  This book should lead to some great conversations in the classroom.

Little Blue Truck
With colorful retro illustrations and a story that has a dash of The Enormous Turnip and a pinch of The Little Engine That Could, this is one tasty book.  My class thoroughly enjoyed the rhyming text and animal noises as well.

Sheep Blast Off!
Yes, you guessed it; the seventh Sheep in a Jeep book is here. Those crazy sheep are back and behind the controls of a rocket.  This quick, cute and funny tale is told in rhyme, complete with Margot Apple’s wooly illustrations.

Activity
Get a refrigerator box from your local appliance store.  Stand it up, cut a porthole and rocket ship door in the side.  Toss in some snow pants and gloves for a spacesuit and you have a dramatic play center that will have kids begging to blast off.

Or try turning the box on its side to create a car or truck.  Cut off the top, cut some flaps for doors, line up some chairs for seats, and the kids will be on their way.

And with that I’m off to count sheep.  I’ll see you tomorrow for the Round-Up.