gaelkm's Full Review: Richard Scarry - Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks ...
We've had this book, Cars and Trucks and Things That Go in our family for years. I recently was cleaning out our books that had been stored away and came across it. It brought back good memories of when I used to read it to my young sons. It's a timeless classic for children.
A sample of the text:
"Ma and Pa Pickles and Penny Pig are going on a picnic. Here comes Ma with the picnic basket. Please hurry up, Ma."
The book is a story of how the Pig Family are trying to get to their beach picnic and encountering all these vehicles along the way. There are lots of fun and cute characters who are all animals, such as dogs, rabbits, pigs, cats, goat, and a bear -- all happy and smiling, driving their colorful vehicles.
The Pig Family drive on each page and they encounter all kinds of amazing and colorful vehicles along the way. There are at least 10-12 colorful vehicles on every two pages, some small and some large, but all moving, and most going in the same direction as the Pig Family.
A sampling of some of the modes of transportation we see are: a soft drink truck, station wagon, shoe delivery car, motorbikes, glass window truck, taxi, baby buggy, pickle truck, moving van, garbage truck, mail van, auto-plane, mailbox truck, tow truck, and fuel oil truck. The pickle truck, for example is a large green truck which is shaped exactly like a gigantic dill pickle. It even has little dill pickles flying out of an opening in the top. There is also a big molasses truck that has some molasses spilling out the back.
Later in the book there is a silly alligator car, pickle truck, unicycle, pumpkin car, pig van, 5-seater pencil car (with five mice inside). There's even a tiny red ant bus, full of ant passengers. A doctor dentist car complete with smiling teeth painted on the car and a toothy dog who speeds by in the group of vehicles included on page 31. The hippoloader, on the same page is really cute with a gigantic hippo stuffed into the little truck. Many pages are more of a theme, with one page dedicated to dumptrucks, for example, and another page showing a variety race cars. Page 38 and 39 shows a cute toothpaste car and toothbrush car.
Ma Pig finally decides that the family needs to stop at the gas station and Pa Pig needs a nap. The next page is full of large and small fire trucks with lots of fire hoses and water splashing. There are all kinds of farm vehicles on the next couple of pages and then a variety of military cars including tanks, a radio truck and a canteen truck. A couple of pages are devoted to camping vehicles and even two pages of jets and planes. Nothing is left out in this comprehensive vehicle book and the author has used his imagination to create his own "fun" vehicles too.
But, the weather then changes and the Pig Family drive through the snow and this is where they see all kinds of snow vehicles, including snow plows, a skier, a snow blower, and snow bus.
As the Pig family drives along, they see many of the following happy characters: Bunny, Dingo, Rabbit, Ladybug, Auntie Pastry and Cousin Willie, Grandma Pig, Penny, Pickles and Goldbug, Charlie the carpenter (and his hammer car), also Officer Flossy and, Mistress Mouse.
"My, there is a lot of traffic on the road today. Firefighters are going to a fire. Children are going to school A witch is going for a broom-ride. Go, everyone, go!"
The lines of text appeal to children, since they are typically four lines to each page. This book kept my sons entertained for hours when they were little. They never got tired of looking at all the different cars and trucks.
All kinds of action and colors and vehicles everywhere. There is lots of detail in every picture. There is also a tiny character called "Goldbug" who the reader is challenged to find in some of the pages. I think Goldbug is sort of a predecessor to "Where's Waldo". He's very tiny and hidden in a vehicle, peeking out of a window here and there in the busy pictures.
With all these Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, there is a huge pileup near the end of the book with lots of vehicles stacked on top of each other, but, of course, no one is hurt. For example, there is a mustard truck with mustard squirting everywhere and a whipped cream truck that spills cream everywhere. Most of the vehicles in the jam are food-related -- such as a tomato juice truck, flour truck and egg truck.
Author Richard Scarry (1919-1994) published over 300 books in his lifetime. He was a very popular children's book author. Many of his books centered around "Busytown."
This is a large book, measuring approximately 13 x 11 inches and is 69 pages of fun.
ISBN 0-307-15785-7
Copyright 1974 Golden, Golden & Design and A Golden Book
The Pig family takes a road trip to the beach for a picnic. The road is packed with hundreds of cars and trucks, vans and motorcycles, tractors and bu...More at Christianbook.com
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