Jack Truck. Dump Truck Dan. Best friends. Jack and Dan. They are built for SMASHING! CRASHING! and playing all day. Just like some kids you might know

Smash!Crash! (Jon Scieszka's Trucktown)

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By Jon Scieszka

Simon & Schuster

Copyright © 2008 Jon Scieszka
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4169-4133-0

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Chapter One

Jack Truck. Dump Truck Dan. Best friends. Jack and Dan.

"Sorry, guys. No can do. Got to stack these barrels by two."

"Aw, don't be such a four-wheeler dud," says Jack. "Come on and ..."

Jack and Dan roll up yo Monster Truck Max.

"Hey, Max," says Jack. "Help us smashing!"

"Yeah, Max," says Dan. "Help us crashing!"

But Max is awfully busy.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Smash!Crash! (Jon Scieszka's Trucktown) by Jon Scieszka Copyright © 2008 by Jon Scieszka. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Little gearheads will rally to this demolition derby, carried out by a gregarious all-motorized cast. Jack Truck, a red flatbed with chrome exhaust stacks, and best friend Dump Truck Dan, a blue guy with a yellow cab and mud flaps, adore the smash and crash of work in progress. To stir up noisy trouble, “Jack and Dan charge Cement Mixer Melvin,” who mixes sand and water for his job. “No. I can’t get messy,” Melvin tells them, but with a “smash-crash!” mischievous Jack and Dan leave him covered in gray glop. The friends help Monster Truck Max stack orange-and-white oil drums, and they assist baby-pink Gabriella Garbage Truck (who has a teddy bear tied to her front bumper) in building a pirate fort from an old boat. Scieszka (Math Curse ) revs readers up with gear-grinding noise and rowdy antics that echo Pixar’s animated Cars . Celebrated illustrators Shannon, Long and Gordon embed mechanical shapes in their punchy display type, and they contribute panoramic vistas of Jack and Dan’s playgrounds: freshly dug foundations, vast junkyards and dusty lots with buildings slated for destruction. In a nod to Scieszka’s “Guys Read” initiative, most of the machines are male, but the burliest of all is Wrecking Crane Rosie, so tall she requires a vertical gatefold. Heads and taillights above legions of other truck titles, this smash-crash series opener is bound to be a hit. Ages 3-7. (Jan.)

[Page 51]. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

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PreS-Gr 1— Scieszka teamed up with Shannon, Long, and Gordon to create a vibrant locale inhabited by personified vehicles. In this rollicking escapade, best pals Jack Truck and Dump Truck Dan are in the mood for smashing and crashing. They search for other friends to join in, including Cement Mixer Melvin, Monster Truck Max, and Grater Kat, but they are all too busy working. Although they interrupt their friends' tasks, Jack and Dan's smashing and crashing ultimately helps each truck get the job done. Throughout the story, the comrades continually flee from a menacing shadow. It turns out to be Wrecking Crane Rosie, who demands that they follow her; Jack and Dan are surprised to discover she needs their help to smash and crash a building. Told in brief catchy language, the story zooms along with plenty of pizzazz and action. Children will want to jump in and repeat the "Smash! Crash!" refrain. The winning full-color digital artwork adds plenty of personality to the characters and perfectly suits the text. A foldout page illustrates Rosie's imposing height, and endpapers introduce the cast. Entertaining as a group read-aloud or one-on-one selection, this book is sure to be a hit with truck lovers. Be on the lookout for more "Trucktown" adventures.—Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Richfield, OH

[Page 97]. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.