Diggers, Dozers, and Dumpers

PreS-Gr 1–Könnecke crafts a set of sweet stories, most one spread long and packed with a nonfiction punch, highlighting construction vehicles and words in a matter-of-fact recounting of various animals at work. Emily Sheep is a sculptor, so she needs a large rock and employs a wheel loader. A jackhammer, hammer, and chisel round out her tool kit, and soon she has created a bust of herself, a little bit taller than she is. When an alligator, dog, and rabbit find the slide at the playground is wrapped in caution tape, Roberta Elephant appears with a small dumper, and the day is saved. Next up: “Cordula Cow has hit the big time as a concert pianist. Now she wants to entertain her less successful sisters. She’s used a telescopic crane” to lower an upright piano into the field where her siblings are grazing. These are tightly told tales, with minor sidebars that offer more information about how the vehicles are used. This book is perfect for shared story hours, and will have children imagining their own fields of play and the equipment they might need. The illustrations are as lighthearted and accessible as Sandra Boynton’s work, with just enough detail to draw in construction buffs, but without throwing the story off pace.