Customer Reviews

Smash! Crash! (Jon Scieszka's Trucktown)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

As a parent, you're going to wish the story had a little more "something" to it--a little more rhyme, a little more depth (yes, even for a children's book, this is a little shallow).

BUT your little guy or girl will fall head over heals for this. This is one of those books kids want read to them again and again and again.

Cute art; clever lettering; a so-so story (so be patient when you read it the thousandth time); but a sure-fire hit with the kids who matter most.

This book is astonishingly bad. Encourages bad manners, behavior that does not respect authority, bully type behavior. Art work is great. Story encourages children to be discourteous, run away when called, ignore requests of others. Don't waste your money here if you are trying to encourage your child to be well behaved and care for others. I would give it less than one star if possible!

I got this for my 2 year old nephew. He just loves it. Great illustrations and cute story. I would recommend it to anyone who has a little man who loves their trucks!

Just bought this book yeasterday for my 5 yr old and he's already in love with it. The animated cars and trucks look a lot like the Chevron Cars from the commercials so if you're little guy is big on those toys, this book will make a real nice companion and it's great to see there are more titiles to follow!! Great way to encourage reading and playtime together. I'm thinking about getting another one to give as a gift! It's really a cute book!

I'm not sure what the author was going for here, but aside from some great art and obvious merchandising opportunities, this is a truly awful book. The language ranges from contrived ("Jack and Dan charge [as in, approach] Cement Mixer Melvin") to confounding ("Hey, Max, help us smashing!" "Yeah, Max, help us crashing.").

The text occasionally suggests the intent to rhyme without paying off with an actual rhyme, and the author appears to have been unsure whether his two smash-crashing heroes are destructive or helpful. If anything, it appears to be a training manual for bullies.

Parents of daughters may find the representation of the sole female characters demeaning at best. And, as other reviewers have likely mentioned, the "story" is oddly disjointed and episodic.

A truly shallow and seemingly ad hoc effort, paid off only by our son's affection for trucks and cars in general. Avoid.

I cannot understand the good reviews of this book, other than to surmise that perhaps it's a case of the author asking his family and friends to review him favorably as a favor. The pictures are cute but the storytelling is AWFUL (i.e., there IS no story), and the characters have unimaginative names ("Gabriella Garbage Truck?" Please.). My two year old loved the pictures but I honestly cannot even bear to read him this book--I punted it to my husband and he came out of my son's room after bedtime asking me, "Who the h*ll bought us this? It's cr@p!" Even a picture book with no words would be better than this. You can't even follow the story, and what little discernible dialogue the characters DO have, it is used to send bad messages "I can't talk to you, I'm too busy" "I don't want to talk to her..." and someone calling for the juvenile characters and they go and hide. My husband suggested I "donate" it to my son's school, but I don't think ANY child should read this book, it's that bad. I won't even take it to the salvation army. It ended up in my paper recycling bin--eleven dollars of NOTHING. Don't waste your money. Worst children's book ever read, I simply cannot understand the good reviews.

Sure 2-year-old boys like the smash and crash theme and the art is very well done, but the message is horrible. For example, the boy trucks "charge Cement Mixer Melvin" saying it's time to smash and crash. He tells them he is busy but they do it anyway and leave Melvin in a big cement mess. They hear a voice and then run away. No saying they are sorry, no punishment for making a mess, and no one telling them to help clean up.

We talked about how this is mean, thinking it would be resolved in the end. Nope. They just get put to work smashing buildings. In other words, their bad behavior is finally put to good use, but so much for all the "people" and property they've left in their wake. Got this as a gift and want to give it away, though I'm not sure any kids should get this book with its poor message. There are plenty of truck books out there for little boys. Would not recommend it at all... can't believe so many parents on this site are!

I have to say I love Scieszka's work. Until I read this book. My toddler loved it, of course. The thing is, every time I read it I had this horrible feeling. My problem is that these trucks aren't nice. They completely ignore requests to let others alone and, although sometimes it works out OK even though they smash and crash into everything, sometimes it doesn't and it comes across as just rude. I know it's a toddler book, but kids are very vulnerable. My son would yell Smash! Crash! and frankly, he does enough of that to his baby sister without his having a book that endorses it. I just couldn't get behind this message. I don't think it's OK to smash into people who ask you not to. As an adult, of course I don't take this literally, but kids take nearly everything that way. Thankfully, we only borrowed it from the library. But I did remove it from my son's wishlist.

This is the first book we've gotten my 2-year-old son to sit still long enough to read once, let alone nearly every night at bed time. The writing lends itself to energetic storytelling, and the author manages to convey a great deal about each of the characters with just a few sentences from them. I can hear the voice of a different friend in each of them. I highly recommend this book for all kids, but those who love trucks will definitely love it.

Before even having kids of my own, I'd been a collector of Jon Scieszka's books for years. I am so happy that he has come out with this new Trucktown series! I have a 2 year old son who just LOVES this book-we read it almost every night! He loves the storyline, the illustrations, and most of all Jack Truck and Dump Truck Dan! The characters are so creative and wonderfully personified.

We can't wait for the rest of the Trucktown series books to come out. This book is a huge hit in our house, and we all highly recommend it!