Amazon.com Review
One sunny day on Merryhill Farm, all the trucks are busily toiling, including Trundle the Tractor and Bee-Bee the Backhoe. All, that is, except for one rusty old forgotten fellow: Dumpy the Dump Truck. Relegated to the weeds behind the barn, Dumpy has been gathering dust and mouse nests for a long time. And it looks like the end is near when Farmer Barnes decides it's time for the old barn to come down, and Dumpy to be, well, dumped. "But I love Dumpy," says Charlie, the farmer's son. "It's so sad to get rid of something you love just to make room for something new." His grandfather, Pop-Up, agrees, and before they know it, the two are up to their ears in grease, paint, and tools. But can they finish sprucing up Dumpy before the barn has to come down?
Dumpy the Dump Truck is the first in a series about the trucks and tractors of Merryhill Farm by Julie Andrews Edwards (author of The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles and Little Bo: The Story of Bonnie Boadicea , and beloved star of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music) and Emma Walton Hamilton. Loyalty, teamwork, and an ever-so-subtle message about the value of the elderly are at the heart of this book. After all, Pop-Up isn't ready to be dumped yet either! Tony Walton's watercolors are filled with friendly-featured vehicles and pleasantly scratchy-looking farm animals and humans. If you like Dumpy, don't miss Dumpy at School! (Ages 4 to 7) --Emilie Coulter
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-These two predictable stories are filled with anthropomorphic trucks and tractors beeping and grinding in colorful onomatopoeia. In Dump Truck, Dumpy is destined for the junkyard until Charlie and his grandfather intervene and lovingly return him to his former shiny red glory. In School, Charlie is nervous about his first day at Apple Harbor Day School, and Dumpy is nervous about his first day on a playground building crew. They each have a trying time, but a happy ending is in store when the school bus breaks down and Dumpy lends his services as a makeshift replacement. Walton's illustrations are unusual in that the faces of the vehicles are more carefully rendered than those of the humans. Charlie and his grandfather are inconsistently portrayed, and sometimes seem out of focus, but Dumpy is always clear and appealing. Slight story lines and uninspiring art make these titles additional purchases.
Martha Link, Louisville Free Public Library, KY Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
