CONSTRUCTION SITE MISSION: DEMOLITION!

Why should the act of construction get all the fun? Time to break it all down.

The beloved characters from Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (2011), return for yet another outing, this time delving deep into the process of destruction. An old building needs to come down, and the trucks are more than eager to oblige. Everyone plays a part: the crane wielding the wrecking ball, the excavator bashing in walls, the little skid steer breaking rocks apart. Unlike many other books about demolitions, this one takes time after every destructive sequence to note that as materials are wrenched asunder, they’re also sorted for recycling purposes. After a hard day’s work, it’s only natural that it end with the vehicles bedding down after, “Another good day. Now, goodnight.” Expect established fans to thoroughly enjoy both the familiar faces (like the excavator, crane, and dump truck) as well as newer types (like the front-end loader); readers new to the series will likely want to seek out earlier volumes. Ideal as a read-aloud, the rhyming text offers plenty of chances for adult readers to accentuate the onomatopoeia—“KA-BOOM!”; “SMASH!”; “Honk! Honk! Roar!”; and more—for their enthralled tykes. As with previous books in the series, there are both male and female trucks, though the “he”s outnumber the “she”s, and there are no clearly identified nonbinary trucks. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.4-by-20.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at 26.7% of actual size.)

A knock-down knockout in more ways than one.