Smash! Crash!

Jon Scieszka's Trucktown

by Jon Scieszka, Loren Long (Illustrator), David Gordon (Illustrator)

Smash! Crash! <> Hardcover <> JonScieszka <> Simon&SchusterBooksforYoungReaders

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Trucks, Transport, Storytime, Juvenile, Construction

42 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2008

About the author

Jon Scieszka is an American children's writer, best known for picture books created with the illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and the founder of Guys Read – a web-based literacy program for boys whose mission is "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers."

Reviews

[Stephen]

Honestly terrible. It almost rhymes at times but doesn't quite. Illustrations are obnoxious and the narrative is so random I could barely follow it. The only appeal is that kids can yell smash crash every page.

[Lisa]

I'm excited to return this to the library because my 3 year old wants to read it non stop. I don't care for the get in trouble duo who doesn't have consequences for their behavior. The various trucks are cute and fun to see and read the end pages but I wish they modeled better choices.

[Amy]

I checked this book out for my nephew who is *a boy*! He likes, trucks, he likes smashing, and crashing, he likes all of those testosterone-fueled loud, messy antics that little boys can get up to. He liked this book. A lot. There was a grin plastered on his face from beginning to end, and he informed me many times, "Amy, I like trucks," or "Amy, they are going to prash (crash) those guys!" I actually think he was sorry to see this book end! He loved it, loved it, loved it.

I liked Smash!Crash! just fine, and I especially liked that my nephew liked it. I just have had a little trouble with the construction of the text in the last two Jon Scieszka books that we've read. Unlike Robot Zot, Smash!Crash! wasn't difficult to read, but there were times when the way the trucks talked seemed inconsistent. One minute they're speaking in fully formed sentences, the next minute they're talking like they barely have enough brains to string words together. I know that's nit-picky, but as a reader I found it distracting. Of course, after smashing and crashing all day, I suppose one's brains would be a little mushy.

[Heidi]

This is by far one of my J's favourite books to read and now big J can read it on his own. #theygrowtoofast
Hands down the Trucktown books are great for any little boys who love trucks! And what little boy doesn't?

[N]

This was definitely lame in the narrative department, But yelling SMASH! CRASH! was fun and what kid doesn't like trucks. Plus there were some cool girl trucks.

[Haley]

Good play on words, good for boys, I liked the illustrations.

[Erin]

I've read this one a LOT! I actually really love to read this one to my little bear. I like to get really close to his ear when the mystery voice starts talking to the two best friends in this story. In my mind it's a booming deep voice. I like to make my voice super annoying and whiney when Izzy the Ice Cream truck starts running her mouth. Gabriella Garbage has a super thick accent too. Like I said, this is a fun one to read. Of course, this is all in my world, you do what you'd like to when you read it. I digress but I really do enjoy the art and the story even though the story is a simple one. I like how they add an air of mystery by adding folded pages to hide certain things so they don't give anything away to the reader before they are ready. Not everyone can do controlling well, but Jon Scieszka can, lol. I promise that is a compliment, Jon. Thank you for entertaining my monster truck obsessed 4 year old.

[Mickayla]

Grade range: K-2
Genre: Modern Fantasy
This book would be a super fun read especially for younger little boys. I immediately thought of my younger brother when I was reading this book. He would've been absolutely entranced by this book when he was in K-2. It's a super fun read, for boys and girls. I would probably use this as a reward read aloud but I would probably have this in my classroom library/

[Brandy]

Entertaining picture book by one of my favorite children's authors - Jon Scieszka also wrote The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. This book has two trucks visiting friends and crashing/smashing. Does have two girl trucks and the big crane at the end is a girl! My favorite part is probably the ice cream truck, "Do you want an ice cream? Do you want an ice cream?"

[Melissa Lee]

Smash Crash is a current favourite for my toddler. Reading this book is a fun experience as it is lively and action packed. I would highly recommend this story to busy little ones who enjoy to smash and crash.

[Eric]

This book is my favorite children book ever. While reading this book I am happy, I feel happy because I really liked being read to and reading this book. I feel happy because the charecters are happy and that makes me feel happy.

[Brittany]

This is one of the worst children’s books I’ve ever read. The plot, the characters, and the wording all leave a lot to be desired. However, my son did like looking at the pictures because they were trucks.

[Kelly]

This is getting 5 stars simply because my two 5-year-old grandchildren kept saying, "Who IS that?! Who is making that shadow??" They were enthralled.

Then again, maybe it was my wonderful storytelling voice. ;)

[Krissy]

***Rated by my son***

[Jess]

November 2018 - Ben chose this one, and it's got lots of appeal for fans of vehicles, but all over the place in terms of story.

[Catherine Estrada]

I hate this book, but my 2.5yo loves it.

[Renee]

This was a favorite for my boys when they were younger. Great for story time, kids get to shout "smash, crash, smash crash!" Throughout the book.

[Sarah]

Reminded us of that scene from Elf where they publish a book missing two pages.

[Tommy]

Only 2 stars because my son liked it. Not really great lessons to be learned from smashing, crashing and not listening to people.

[Akchev]

Storyline was pretty choppy

[Sierra]

Although my looking at the cover of this book many presume that this book is geared towards boys but in reality it can be for girls too and there is even a girl truck within the book. Two mischievous trucks play all day, visiting their friends and making lots of noise while helping everyone they come across (fixing a road, stacking barrels, making a pirate fort). In the end they are caught by the wrecking crane and instead of getting into trouble are put to work doing what they do best - smashing and crashing.I thought that the animated cars and trucks were a neat idea and sort of represented something you would see from the Cars movie. 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. Overall, i felt a disconnect from the storyline. I would not include this book in my personal classroom because of the inappropriate behavior played by some of the vechicles and the language used within the book. There is also a bit of rhyming occuring throughout the book but I feel as though the book should have rhymed consistently throughout the pages or not rhymed at all. This book would have been more appealing to me if it included that Smash! Crash! concept but not that destroying others belongings and ignoring others is okay. Instead I feel as though an aim towards having some fun with friends while still being respectful would have been a better fit and more popular within parents. If this book was read to little ones I would ask discussion questions while reading such as "Was that nice?", "What could they have done instead?". These questions would help children understand that certain forms of behavior are rude and not considerate.

[Chelsea]

Jack and Dan are two construction trucks that LOVE to smash and crash! They smash and crash so good that, even though they sometimes make a mess, they get the job done and they do it well. Every time they smash and crash a dark shadow appears saying in a scary voice, “Hey you two, I want you…” Each time the trucks zoom away. They run into Melvin the cement truck, Max the big wheeler, Izzy the ice cream truck, and many more. They smash and crash, smash and crash, the whole time. This book is a lot of fun to read, and Jack and Dan are such down to earth trucks. Personification would be a must for me, as well as explaining the fantasy of the story. I would have the students predict what they think the large shadow is before getting to the end and share their ideas on the board. It would also be a good have the students recall the sequence of events in the story in order to have better comprehension strategies.

[Cynthia]

For whatever reason, my toddler strongly disliked this book. I thought it was cute though. I've read a lot of truck and transport picture books with him and while it wasn't anything particularly amazing, I wouldn't say it was bad either. Solid 3 stars.

[Cathy]

Great bright colors is what I remember most about this book. It's about these two trucks that don't like to anything but smash and crash. They disrupt other truck lives. Their friend Melvin was making cement and Jack and Dan charged towards him once he refuse to play with them because he had another responsibility smashed and crashed the cement mixer making a huge mess. Their friend Melvin was not to happy. I like the printing. The words were large and black. This is very attractive to young readers. I would use this book with younger (k-2) readers. There is a lesson to be learned. Dont interrupt others from doing their work because you want to play.

[Ina]

Jack and Dan are best friends. They are a pair of trucks and their favorite thing to do is "Smash! Crash! Smash-crash!" My story time audience loved this book and learned very quickly to chime in on the "chorus." giggling and yelling "Smash Crash" whenever I turned the appropriate page. The illustrations show brightly colored happy, smiling trucks. There are even two female trucks, one a pink big rig, who we find playing pirate. Although the text is somewhat sparse and disjointed, my audience was having way too much fun with the pictures and yelling out "Smash and Crash" that they certainly didn't notice.

[Helen Kumpel]

Who this book would be for: Pre-K-2
This is a cute book about two trucks that love to SMASH and CRASH! The two friends help out their friends as they do their smashing and crashing. But when a voice calls for them they "Gotta go!" Soon the voice catches up with them and the two trucks find out that their help is needed to do some more smashing and crashing!
I think this book would be good for children that enjoy trucks and also for those who need to learn the right and wrong ways to "smash and crash".

[Emerson and Theodore]

"Please," Emerson said as he pointed to the book on the shelf at home.

Two days earlier, at the library, he had walked up to a shelf and grabbed a book. It somehow happened to be about trucks-- one of his favorite subjects.

Though Daddy feels the storyline of two trucks crashing and smashing into everything lacks a moral or a message, we'll never know. Turns out the last two pages were torn out by a previous library lender.

There's one way to find out, though.

Buy it for him on his birthday.

MOOK

Mommy says don't buy.

[Megan Gery]

I found this obnoxious. M (3) liked it, though.

[The Library Lady]

There's no depth, no subtlety and barely any story line--just a pair of trucks going "smash and crash". Which is why toddler and preschool kids--especially the BOYS are going to love this one. If my older nephew was still in his car-and-truck mania stage, I'd be buying it for his birthday!
Scieska is going to make a lot of money on this series--especially if he and his team keep put in big foldout pages that those "smash and crash" loving kids are going to rip in no time flat!

[Ubalstecha]

Jon Scieszka appears to have one mission in life, and that is to write books that boys will read. This book is part of his Trucktown series, aimed at the pre-school set and early primary set. And let me tell you, he has succeeded. My son is addicted to this picture book with its message of smashing and crashing of two young male trucks. We read it almost every day and he can name off every character.

Go get this for the little man in your life.