Spring Fling: Little Blue Truck's Springtime by Alice Schertle

Little Blue Truck is back and just in time to see what's new!

IT'S A YOO-HOO, SKY-BLUE, SPRING-SING DAY

WHAT DO THEY SEE ALONG THE WAY?

Little Blue Truck is on the road with his best friend Toad, and everywhere they look, Toad and Little Blue see something magically new, in Alice Schertle's latest, a lift-the-flap delight that reveals brand-new farm friends to meet.

Down at the barn, the stall door opens to reveal Mama Sheep's babies--twin white lambkins!

There's a new born calf in the cowshed, and in the sty Mrs. Pig has ten pink piglets. And and what do they see hidden in the clover?

A BUNNY SISTER AND A BUNNY BROTHER

AND ANOTHER... AND ANOTHER!

The birds and crickets are singing. Frogs in the pond are leaping. And Little Blue Truck can't keep from beeping!

Alice Schertle's cheery rhyming Lift-the-Flap book reveals all the spring surprises in her latest Little Blue Truck's Springtime (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018), a joyful way to introduce tots and preschoolers to the happy renewal of the springtime. Accompanied by his pal Toad, the famous anthropomorphic little farm pickup truck shows youngsters all the new life of spring, from ducklings swimming behind Mother Duck in a line to chicks exiting from their eggs in Mrs. Hen's nest. Schertle's happy rhymes are set off in lovely landscapes pictured by artist Jill McMurray, whose pastel watercolors speak sweetly of springtide.

Other books by this talented pair include the first in series, Little Blue Truck Board Book,, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, Little Blue Truck's Halloween, and Little Blue Truck's Christmas, all preschool classics. (See reviews here)

Beep Along! Little Blue Truck's Beep-Along Book by Alice Schertle

If the cow is in the corn,

give a wave and honk your horn!

Alice Schertle's beloved picture book hero, Little Blue Truck, is back in what even a curmudgeon would call an adorable toy and movable book for toddlers.

Through a die-cut hole in the cover and each page, Little Blue Truck peers forth, with Frog at the wheel, saying I Beep! And with a squeeze of Little Truck's plush hood, he does!

On a sunlit toodle through the farmlands, Schertle's text describes the farm animals in the scenery and invites the little reader to give a beep and a wave to friends. There are cows in the corn, pigs in the clover, and also horses, chickens, ducks, sheep, goats, geese, and another frog to greet along the way. Beep as much as you like! It's a soft, sweet sound for young ears, and an interactive book that even infants can begin to enjoy as parents read along.

Veteran author Alice Schertle provides her characteristically rhythmic verses and artist Jill McElmurry's jolly, rounded illustrations have made their Little Blue Truck series current classics for preschoolers, and their Little Blue Truck's Beep-Along Book (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015) is a great way to introduce little ones (and new parents) to these endearing books.

Schertle's larger format pictures books in this series are Little Blue Truck Board Book, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way board book and Little Blue Truck's Christmas, as well as the spin-off activity book Little Blue Truck Farm Sticker Fun! (see reviews here.)

Don't Forget the Lights! Little Blue Truck's Christmas by Alice Schertle

Christmastide is near, and Blue Truck is loaded with cheer!

Well, he will be when he fills his load bed with Christmas greenery. And what does Little Blue Truck do as Christmas draws nearer?

FIVE TREES READY
TO TAKE A RIDE.
HOW MANY TREES
WILL FIT INSIDE?

Stopping by Toad's Trees, Blue counts them up as Toad loads them up, and one by one Little Brown counts them down as he delivers them to his best friends.

Who needs a tree? Goose honks for Blue to stop and unload tree #5. It's a big one, and Goose needs it as her ten goslings, in festive red hats, climb up to perch on its branches.

At her barn with its jolly colored fringe of lights, Cow moos for the tallest tree, and now Blue has only three.

As befits her size, Pig orders up a fat one, and Goat selects a short one to hoist high to her three-storied stalls for her three kids. Now Little Blue Truck has only one evergreen left in the load bed.

Who will get the very last tree?

"BEEP! BEEP, BEEP!
THIS ONE'S FOR ME!"

And kids' eyes will shine as with the last page turn, Little Blue Truck's tree comes to life with its own blinking, twinkling lights for Blue and Toad to enjoy. In her just-published Little Blue Truck's Christmas (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) veteran holiday storyteller Alice Schertle's scintillatingly simple verses and illustrator Jill McElmurray's bedecked anthropomorphic little truck and seasonal scenes provide the perfect kickoff to the holiday fun, especially when it's time for trimming the tree. Of course, author and artist take the opportunity to provide a bit of preschool counting practice in the process. The publisher even kindly provides instructions for replacing the batteries for Little Blue's lights so that they may sparkle for many a season.

Schertle and McElmurry's other terrific Little Blue Truck books are the best-selling Little Blue Truck Board Book and Little Blue Truck Leads the Way board book (see reviews here).

BOO! Guess Who? Little Blue Truck's Halloween by Alice Schertle

Little Blue Truck
and his good friend Toad
are going to a party
just down the road.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

says Little Blue.

"It's Halloween! You come, too.

Brightly colored leaves are swirling in the breeze, and jack o'lanterns grin from gateposts and dooryards, as Toad drives Little Blue Truck down the road. Who's that ahead?

Who's this clown
with the big red nose?
and a cap that jingles
wherever he goes?

Under the mask,
who do you see?

"Baa!" says the sheep.
"It's me! It's me!"

One by one, the costumed animals are waiting by the road--Duck in a tutu, a queenly Cow in a crown, Pig with scraggly hair under a tall, pointed black hat, Hen in a feathered pirate hat, and Horse sporting a dragon's fiery breath, wings, and spiked tail. Little Blue Truck stops for each one to ask "Who do you see?" and each party-goer is found under the flap saying "It's me!" Soon Little Blue's loadbed is full of costumed friends who unload at the barn to sample the treats and dance to the music.

The barn is jumpin' and the party is in full swing. But where are Toad and Little Blue Truck?

And who is that looking like a giant ghost--with great big glassy glowing eyes?

Under that sheet it can only be...

It's you-know-who!

"Beep! Beep! BOO!"

In a delightfully designed board book edition, it's Alice Schertle's Little Blue Truck's Halloween (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), all ready to introduce preschoolers to the custom of dressing up to celebrate Halloween. There are clues for the youngest toddlers visible under each disguise, and a lift of each super-sturdy flap reveals the animal's distinctive sound (Quack! Moo! Cluck!) as he or she unmasks and offers an ID. Author Alice Schertle is a past master of of jolly-metered quatrains and predictable rhymes which offer pre-reading skills for tots which also help the emergent reader solo on this story, and with the familiar illustrations of Jill McElmurry, this new one, out in plenty of time to have on hand for the spooky season, adds to the admirable list of books in the Little Blue Truck series.

Sorry to end on an old cliche'.
But there's only one thing I can say!

Little Blue Truck's Halloween is adorable!

Snug in the Storm: Goodnight, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

The birds are swiftly winging their way toward their nests, and with best friend Toad at the wheel, Little Blue Truck is heading homeward, too. Lightning is starting to flash as they dash toward their snug garage.

Such a wet and stormy night!
Their warm garage was a welcome sight.

But before they even close the door, they have a guest with a request!

"Maaaaa!" said Goat. "Please, Little Blue!"
"Can I come in and stay with you?

And Goat is only the first to arrive. Hen flies her coop to roost on top of Little Blue, followed one by one by the other farmyard animals--Goose, Pig, and Duck, who take cover in the warm, dry garage. Pig wriggles in under Little Blue, and Duck and Goose flap and ruffle their feathers to shake off the rain. Even Cow shows up to squeeze into the now quite crowded little red garage.

Somehow, when they're all together, the lightning's crashes and flashes don't seem so very scary!

The storm ends with a bit of soft rain, and with a jolly, "Climb right in!" Little Blue Truck gives the sleepy friends all a ride back to their waiting coop and perches, stall and pen.

The rain had stopped,and way up high,
the moon was a smile in a starry sky.

With the happy image of the crescent moon's smile, a dark and stormy night ends with kind words and comforting companionship, in Alice Schertle's forthcoming sequel in her beloved series,Good Night, Little Blue Truck (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019). Author Schertle's perfect little rhymes offer soothing succor, and for kids who find crashy, flashy thunderstorms a bit frightening, with the comfort of companionship they find that a nighttime rainstorm may even induce a few yawns. With jolly illustrations "in the style of the late series illustrator Jill McElmurry," artist John Joseph keeps the rustic scene warm and sweet with McElmurry's familiar soft pastels and rounded touch.

Who wouldn't want to ride out a scary storm and be put to bed with Little Blue Truck! It's the best bad-weather bedtime story ever! Share this one with Schertle's seasonal Little Blue Truck's Halloween (see review here.)

Beep! Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Schertle

LITTLE BLUE TRUCK ROLLED INTO THE CITY.

"BEEP!" SAID BLUE. "THE CITY IS HIGH."

Rolling through the countryside, with dawn just breaking, and a load of lettuces in his loadbed, Little Blue Truck is happily on an adventure. He's making a delivery to a restaurant deep in the city, and as the sky fills up with skyscrapers, the road he's had all to himself suddenly turns to a multi-laned tangle.

There are vans making early-morning deliveries, police cars shrieking "WOOEEEEE!", a busy street sweeper, and a double-decker bus--even a long limousine carrying the mayor to a  very important speech--and all of them are trying to get ahead of all the others. Little Blue's little "beep" seems lost in all the racket of a busy city starting its day.

But all this hustle and bustle and hurrying to get ahead has its problems. Soon all the vehicles find themselves in a jam. The mayor is stewing; he can't be late for his super-important speech!

"MOVE IT, LITTLE BEEPER!" ONE YELLS.

But Blue knows just what to do. As everyone pushes to be first, he has another plan.

"STOP!" YELLED BLUE.

"YOU MIGHT BE FAST AND I MIGHT BE SLOW!

BUT ONE AT A TIME IS THE WAY TO GO"

In her delightful sequel to her 2008 hit, Little Blue Truck, author Alice Schertle's rhymes are just as charmingly bouncy,  as her hero, a big-eyed, good-hearted little farm truck, ventures into the big city, where larger, more impressive vehicles try to shove him aside in their race to GET THERE! But in this latest, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), common sense and cooperation save the day, with even the mayor climbing into the tiny truck's loadbed along with the lettuces to second Little Blue's homely advice and direct traffic. With Jill McEllmurry's appealing little anthropomorphic vehicles done up in bright and jolly gouache primary colors, they all get to arrive at their own happy ending, especially young readers who will love to read both books.