Where the Grubber Hits the Road: Food Trucks by Mark Todd

HEY! HERE COME THE FOOD TRUCKS!

TALK ABOUT YOUR MEALS ON WHEELS.

THESE TRAVELING CHOW HOUNDS

ARE HEADING TO YOUR TOWN.

The diner on the corner has sprouted wheels and is rolling to a stop somewhere near you!

Talk about your fast food!

The successors to those picturesque pushcart vendors are now mobile enough to make their rounds all around the town, stopping at times when folks are due to emerge hungry--at factory gates, at coffee break time, across from the local college or sports arena--wherever people want handheld foods.

Take Bubba Q down in the Sunbelt, for example, loaded with napkin dispensers for those yummy, drippy sauces and icy sweet tea urns, who drives around with the best advertising scheme there is, the smoker on top, exuding the delicious smells of spicy roasting meats. Or how about flagging down Amigo, the Taco Truck.

HOLY MOLE' GUACAMOLE!

HOW ABOUT A HOT TAMALE?

Or for those more Down East-ish folks up in New England, there's Charley's Chowda chuggin' up to warm up those Yankees, proudly showing off their mission statement:

"NOTHIN' SPEAKS LOUDAH THAN A BOWL OF CLAM CHOWDA!"

The Pharoah's Tummy forks out the felafel, while Cheddar Chuck grills them up, cheesy and melty, in dozens of flavors. The Better Burger Builder Bus even looks like a burger, with an exhaust pipe on top disguised to look like a marker for "WELL DONE." If you're feeling cosmopolitan-ish, there's always Curry in a Hurry (from the land of spices and Basmati rices)! And don't forget to get your daily greens from Mr. Cobb, the salad truck! From a morning cuppa Joe to pretzels and sushi, it's a movable feast for almost any taste.

What's for desert? How about a cupcake from Sprinkles or an ice cream confection from the original mobile food prototype, the Ice Cream Truck!

It's a convoy of cantinas parked and waiting for you in Mark Todd's hot off the press Food Trucks! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), along with steamy bubbles with foot factoids about each food (In the U.K., cupcakes are called "Fairy Cakes.").  Author Mark Todd's rhyming narration bounces along gaily with his comical detailed illustrations of rolling restaurants. A nice addition to that transportation or foods unit for primary classes and a lyric litany of dining possibilities for urban eaters. Is it lunchtime yet?