GOODNIGHT, GOODNIGHT, CONSTRUCTION SITE

Heavy machinery explained, for lovers of heavy machinery.

This primer for aspiring readers with penchants for large, motorized construction rigs introduces five familiar vehicles that push, carry, lift, churn, and dig. A few lines of simple, rhymed text name each machine and describe its function opposite a succession of illustrated pages die-cut in the shapes of the larger and larger pieces of heavy equipment they depict. Each slightly anthropomorphized truck looks powerful yet friendly. Every illustration features four vocabulary words for specific parts of the vehicle in question. Toddlers learn to name bulldozers, dump trucks, cranes, cement mixers, and excavators as well as a few of the most prominent features of each, including treads, scoops, engines, cabs, hoppers, outriggers, and booms. Depending upon a child’s age and interest level, the book can be a quick read or an opportunity for pointing, naming, questions, and answers. Rhymed text appears on backgrounds of several varied hues. The illustrations, on the other hand, each share the same dark purple background. As the book contains no previous mention or depiction of sunlight or time of day, readers unfamiliar with the blockbuster picture book this is based on may be confused when the final rhyme announces nightfall. Nevertheless, a happily snoozing moon nestled in the scoop of an excavator should invite yawns and an easy transition to bedtime.

Certainly, there is sufficient vocabulary to make this the Goodnight, Moon of construction books.