WHAT'S IN MY TRUCK?

Readers can explore the cargoes of five different trucks by lifting 30-plus flaps.

With each truck depicted in profile across a double-page spread, little fingers can open the passenger-side door and several other moderately sturdy flaps to reveal the appropriate freight inside a dairy/produce truck, a carnival truck, a car carrier and more. A couple of simple sentences set the scene on the far left of the spread, and the driver asks readers to locate items of note hidden within the truck. (Alas, the sole obviously female driver asks readers to help her find her pink purse, stowed beneath her seat. So much for women’s lib.) From the friendly critters on their way to the petting zoo to the marine animals revealed in the aquarium-transport vehicle, what’s under the flaps is playfully engaging. Bleck’s cartoons, in carnival-bright colors, are simple enough to allow for recognition by the youngest readers and offer enough detail to draw in older preschoolers. A few of the spreads address different concepts (such as counting, colors, etc.), but the “orange lion” on the carnival truck’s merry-go-round is yellow as much as orange.

This convoy is sure to please the toddler set and beyond.