I'm Dirty! [Hardcover]

Kate McMullan (Author), Jim McMullan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Clank! Rattle! Bang!
Who's making all that noise?
Backhoe Loader, reporting for duty.
Cleaning up a mess? Easy as pie.
Make that a mud pie.

RRRRRM! RRRRRM!
Who wants to be clean when it's so much fun being dirty?
Clunk!
I just LOVE my job!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 2–With a style familiar to fans of Im Mighty! (2003) and I Stink! (2002, both HarperCollins), McMullan introduces a sassy backhoe loader who relishes his dirty job. He brags about his equipment and then heads to work, where he cleans up an abandoned lot. Cleaning up this mess? Easy as pie. Make that a MUD pie. Counting down from 10 to 1, the backhoe removes the alliterative trash: 4 cat-clawed couches, 3 scuffed-up signs, 2 tossed-out toilet seats, 1 wonky washing machine. Then, he pulls out a tree stump, takes a mud bath, and back-drags his bucket over the dirt. Throughout the story, the machine becomes progressively dirtier, with a repeating motif of mud. The text flies about the pages, changing size, shape, and orientation. With its saucy tone and dynamic color cartoon illustrations, this picture book exudes energy.–Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The irresistible, growling garbage-truck star of the McMullens' I Stink! (2002) collected legions of small fans. This follow-up's narrator, a swaggering, dirt-loving backhoe loader, is just as likable. The books' formats are similar. Stink weaves an alphabet game into the text; here, there is a counting exercise as the backhoe loader lists the piles of clutter it moves, from "10 torn-up truck tires" to "7 loused-up lawn chairs," while clearing a vacant lot. As in the previous title, the high-octane, boasting voice and energetic, bold-lined illustrations transform the machine into a loud-mouthed, fully anthropomorphized character that will instantly captivate kids. The short, choppy phrases, filled with sound, are just right for jolly, raucous read-alouds: "Ugh! Arrrrrrrgh! Mmmmmmmmmph! Tim-berrrrrrrr!" Pint-size gear-heads will love the spreads showing the backhoe loader using all of his features, from front claw to back wheels, and most kids will find plenty of vicarious fun in the grinning, powerful monster machine that creates and conquers chaos and loves a good mud bath. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (August 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060092939
• ISBN-13: 978-0060092931
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 11.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Where We Live > City Life

More About the Author

Kate McMullan is the author of many books for young readers, including I Stink!, winner of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor; I'm Mighty; and Meg's Prairie Diary, a historical fiction trilogy set in St. Louis and Kansas in 1856. She has been fascinated by the Lewis and Clark Expedition since the age of ten, when an uncle told her about an ancestor who had gone on the expedition. That ancestor was sixteen-year-old George Shannon. Ms. McMullan lives in New York City and Sag Harbor, New York, with her husband and collaborator, noted illustrator Jim McMullan, their daughter, two cats, and a dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dirty, Grimy Silliness, August 15, 2006

By 

Wantz Upon A Time Reviews (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'm Dirty! (Hardcover)

A back-end loader has a big job to do. It starts the day sparkling clean--until it has to remove the garbage from an otherwise empty lot. The lot is very dirty, and the dirt gets all over the back-end loader as it hauls the trash away. Once the lot is cleaned up and smoothed out, one look at the back-end loader will send kids into fits of giggles.

Simple phrasing and catchy illustrations provide a silly time for young children. Although not high on educational content, the book has a countdown from ten to one (i.e.: one broken washer). Children who love dirt and grime will enjoy this picture book for its silliness. Other children may be ambivalent. My four-year-old daughter was mildly entertained but not very interested, while a friend's boy of the same age absolutely loved it--proving the book's appeal is on a very individual basis.

Overall, it's a nice picture book and good for a silly story.

Christina Wantz Fixemer
8/15/2006

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Runner-up to I Stink!, March 21, 2010

By 

Jason Kirkfield "The Pride and Sorrow of chil... (Purple Mountains Majesty) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm Dirty! (Hardcover)

Most of the people who enjoyed 2002's I Stink! will naturally gravitate to this 2006 sequel. I'm Dirty! is a fun book most kids should love, though it is not the classic its older brother has become.

The backhoe seems friendlier than the trash truck but I am not convinced that makes the story better. Also, the 10 to 1 countdown is both less fun and less educational than the original's alphabet soup.

Still, I'm Dirty! teaches the importance of hard work, and of actually enjoying it. So add this to your collection--in addition to (but not instead of) I Stink!--and have a dirty day!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved the book!, February 5, 2009

By 

Robert C. Lyons "a_perspective" (Jerseyville, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I'm Dirty! (Hardcover)

I bought this book for a children's lit. class and I have to say I am so glad I got it. My son is 2, which is another reason I picked this one out of a list, and he loves it too. He loves tractors or anything of the sort and this is just right up his ally. And the illustrations are great, the book is worded so that you sound out noises, and there is some counting in it too. Highly recommended!