PUSH! DIG! SCOOP!

Anthropomorphic mother and father construction trucks teach their young ones how to do their jobs in this counting book/singalong.

“Over by the dirt pile in the sizzling summer sun / works a mama bulldozer with her little dozer ONE. / ‘Push!’ says the mama. ‘I push!’ says the one. / So they push oosh oosh in the sizzling summer sun.” The tune (“Over in the Meadow”) is a familiar one, especially since so many recent books use it in similar fashion, but the addition of the sound effects (strange as some may seem) is a nice touch that will be appreciated by storytime audiences. Both mother and father trucks are pictured, and gender is delineated with accessories (all stereotypical), eyelashes (only on the mothers), and the relative thickness of eyebrows. A few wear glasses, and one wears a patch over one eye. The equipment includes excavators, wheel loaders, dump trucks, pipe layers, cement mixers, cranes, graders, asphalt pavers, and steamrollers. At the end of their hard day, they celebrate, hose off, and snuggle in for lullabies. Though those reading aloud may stumble over a few verses with off rhythms, little ones who love construction sites may be too busy poring over the digitally colored ink drawings of their favorite trucks to notice.

Painless counting practice for construction-truck fans.