My Big Rig [School & Library Binding]

Jonathan London (Author), Viviana Garofoli (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2007 | Age Level: 2 and up

Zoom! While playing with his toy truck, a little boy imagines himself driving an eighteen-wheeler through a city, across a bridge, and into the countryside. Along the way, he uses his two-way radio and parks at a truck stop. Finally, he reaches the coast, where he unloads his cargo. His imagination would keep growing . . . but it’s time for dinner!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K–This simple story takes children on an evenly paced cross-country tour. While playing with his toy, a boy imagines heading off for adventure in a life-size rig. With horn blasting and engine roaring, he sets off through the city, over a bridge, into the country, across a valley, up a mountain, through a tunnel before taking a doughnut break at a truck stop. After munching on his snack, the youngster climbs back into the cab. He continues onward, rolling across a desert, over mountains, across plains, through a forest, and on to the sea. At a harbor, the child unloads his cargo. He quickly returns to reality when his dad calls him for dinner. Minimal text appears on each page. Garofoli's bright spreads, rendered in Adobe illustrator, convey the essence of each geographic locale and extend the short text. The bouncy book jacket depicting the semi rolling across a quilted bedspread will entice youngsters with an interest in trucks. London fans will be looking for this title to accompany A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa (Holt, 2005).–Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Richfield, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

A boy's toy yellow truck revs up his imagination and inspires a daydream of driving an 18-wheeler across the country. After rolling across a bridge, through a valley, and over a mountain, he pulls into a truck stop for doughnuts before hitting the road again. Across desert and prairie, through forests, and down to the sea, the truck barrels along until it arrives harborside, where its cargo is loaded onto ships. And just in time, too, because the boy's father is calling him for dinner. Argentine artist Garofoli contributes a fine series of digitally assisted illustrations, featuring clean lines, fresh colors, and varied compositions. West to East, left to right, page after page, the truck rolls along through the wide double-page spreads. Neatly capturing the easy way in which children slip from playing around to playing intently, this motor-minded fantasy would be a good book to share before a road trip. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• School & Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Childrens Books (March 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761453466
• ISBN-13: 978-0761453468
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars King of the Road, November 10, 2007

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Big Rig (School & Library Binding)

Graton's Jonathan London uses his Northern California background as the setting for this beautifully illustrated big rig journey. We encounter our young protagonist in his bedroom, playing with his truck set and asking us, "Wouldn't it be fun to drive a truck across the country?" Fro ithis first spread, illustrator Viviana Garofoli's impressive talent is evident from this first spread: Her use of bright colors, geometric shapes, open space, and shadows give the book a wide-open, inviting appeal, and she's obviously up with curret toys (a soccer ball, realistic looking playset, skates) and little boy room decor.

London begins the trip immediately, as the boy climbs into a yellow 5-axle truck, making his way from the tilted cityscape of San Francisco north over the GOlen Gate Bridge. Garofoli's slanting towers, soaring "INternational Orange" bridge towers, and simplified sea andlandscape in blue, mayve, and purple is amazing; while stripping the scene down to its essentials, she also adds her own vision to the familiar (albeit beautiful) setting. The boy drives that truck over rolling valleys, and up steep mountains, through the desert, and across the plains. There are colorful details everywhere: Cactii and other flora in bloom, a bird perched on an a deer's antlers, distant curvy roads with guard rails--it's quite an adventure!

London's has fun with the whole trucker image, playing a macho sensibility against the boy's tender age. The boy--drawn oversized as if he had put on several years and pounds-- visits a diner, dipping his chocolate doughnut into an unspecified dark brown beverage. (You can tell your audience its either hot chocolate or coffee.) WIth his mouth talking sideways into his CB radio, he contacts another king of the road:

"What's your handle?"

"Fast Freddie," he answers.

"Keep on truckin', good buddy."

"Roger that, I say. Over and out!"

Little Mr. Man successfully delivers his crates and watches them being unloaded on "giant sea-going freighters." Big Mr. Boy, however, is called to dinner and then gets into bed, where he expects his daydream will be matched with a nighttime one. London and Garofoli show how a great kids' book should sound and look, this is one of my favorites of the year. I knew from "Mustang Canyon," the "Froggy" series, and other works that I could expect great writing from London, but I equally impressed by the welcoming, exciting images of Ms. Garofoli.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I don't support this..., December 23, 2011

By 

Jason Tramonto - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Big Rig (Board Buddies) (Hardcover)

I'm disappointed that the author decided it was appropriate to illustrate a child of perhaps seven, driving an eighteen wheeler big rig. This just doesn't seem like a good idea, no matter how advanced the kid is. The legal driving age in most states is at least 16 years of age. On the front cover the child is seen unbuckled waving both arms out the passenger side, presumably there is no driver, and the child is about to learn the hard way that trucks don't fly by landing on a bunny with a petrified look on it's face.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the child is shown later on in the book drinking coffee and eating doughnuts. Because a seven year old driving an eighteen wheeler wasn't dangerous enough, let's go ahead and jack the kid up on caffeine and sugar to boot. Needless to say, I couldn't finish the book out of fear I would encounter even more highly encouraged irresponsible behaviors. Read this book to your kid at your own risk.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A distinctive, colorful artistic style, September 6, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Big Rig (School & Library Binding)

Father of two Jonathan London presents My Big Rig, a children's picturebook about a young boy who imagines what it would be like to drive a bright yellow, eighteen-wheeler truck across the country. Illustrated in a distinctive, colorful artistic style reminiscent of simple paper cutout collages by Viviana Garofoli, My Big Rig is sure to excite young truck lovers from coast to coast. "Wouldn't it be fun / to drive a truck / across the country? // I climb into my big rig / and wave good-bye. // I blast my horn. / My engine roars."