Digger Man

Andrea & David's "Man" Books

by Andrea Zimmerman, David Clemesha (Illustrator)

A picture book for the very young that celebrates a child's excitement for construction vehicles

"Honk the horn!
Flash the lights!
Scoop the rocks!
Push the mud!"

A little boy imagines driving a great big digger-scooping and pushing mud to make a playground for his baby brother.

Children are fascinated with bulldozers, backhoes, payloaders-diggers of all shapes and sizes. In this playful picture book, simple alliterative language and bold, colorful images capture a child's love of building and creating.

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

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha are married and have created several children’s books together, including Digger Man, Fire Engine Man and Trashy Town, an ALA Notable Book. Zimmerman was born in Ohio and grew up in New York, Utah and California. When she was young, she loved exploring nature, reading comic books, and riding her horse. She studied fine arts for children in college, then later went back to school at UCLA and became a dentist. Clemesha grew up in England and moved to the United States when he was 16. He always loved playing tennis, drawing and reading. He studied English in college and became an elementary school teacher. Zimmerman and Clemesha live in San Diego, California, with their three sons.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/andrea...

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best part of this book is that it mirrors the boys that I read it to: the older one loves all construction vehicles, especially diggers, and he has a little brother who is learning by watching him. The main little boy of the story is talking all about how he wants to buy a digger and work on a construction site and his family could come visit him (including his little brother) and ultimately teach his little brother to be a Digger Man too. Simple story, simple illustrations and it's enough.

[Alicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know this is pretty picky of me to give this book such a low rating. This book has nice looking illustrations and a good story line that my daughter loves, but there were three pages in this book where a baby is pictured holding a bottle. It just doesn't have any relevance in a book about diggers that the baby should have a bottle so many times in the book. It is just another way that the formula companies hook young children into thinking that bottle feeding is normal. Formula is so commercialized and with young children. I understand that some people truly have difficulty with breastfeeding, but that doesn't mean that we need three bottle pictures in this book. Where are the pictures of babies nursing except for in books about nursing? When my daughter becomes a mom I want her to feel confident about choosing to nurse her babies like she has been nursed and I don't like that there are so many formula images in our society and so few nursing images.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the surface, this doesn't look amazing. But the author must know little boys. She is so into the brain of my preschooler. Reading the text is like reading his mind. I paraphrase: "My brother is too little, so he doesn't know...but soon I'm going to buy a huge digger...I will have a lot of work to do with my digger...Sometimes my mom and dad can bring my brother to watch me work...." My toddler adores the book as well because of the pictures.

[Erica Sonzogni · Rating 4 out of 5]

What little boy doesn't fantasize about owning his own digger when he grows up? This board book, which focuses on audiences aged one to four, reads the minds of toddlers by describing what the toddler-aged boy would do if he owned his own digging machine. He describes what projects he would work on with his new toy, such as build his own playground or dig a pond to fish. Throughout the book, the boy constantly mentions his younger brother, an infant, and how he would take his sibling on his digging adventures with him. For example, when the boy mentions the playground that he will build with his digger, he also explains that it will be a place for him and his brother to play. The authors, Zimmerman and Clemesha, create believable characters that any young child could relate to but added the sibling-relationship dynamic as well. The authors also subtly explained how owning a piece of machinery is a large responsibility and requires hard work and effort. The book gives the message to young children that diligence will achieve positive results. While the words and sentences are simple, the meaning behind them is not superficial. While parents would have to read this board book to their children, they too would enjoy the message and storyline.

[Silvia Korchumova · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would love for this book to have more gender-inclusive language and less gendered narrative. I have a little boy but there is nothing about the toys and activities in this book that is specifically boy-only. There is a little baby brother in the story and several opportunities to talk about the main boy character actually taking care of his brother, but the story doesn’t include that - like a “story for girls” surely would. Let’s show girls doing physical activities too, please, or at least leave the language and the pictures neutral enough so that we don’t spoon-feed gender bias to our children at every turn.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my Community Helper storytime. The text is simple and sweet as our protagonist explains that he will be a Digger Man when he grows up. There's a connection to caring for a baby sibling too, so the book could work in that aspect as well.

For: readers looking for a simple Community Helper book.

Possible red flags: some readers may find the book too short; children operating heavy machinery.

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack borrowed this book from the Ashland Public Library. Like a lot of kiddos, he loves checking out construction vehicles. He got write up close to the book and enthusiastically turned the pages.

The story is cute. The main boy wants to be a digger man when he grows up and to teach his little brother about them. I like that it frames construction careers in a positive light, as society seems too often to pressure kids into academic professions.

[Libby Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute read for a toddler who has recently become and older sibling. Definitely is a hit for our vehicle-obsessed boy too. It walks through a little boy’s imaginative play with his toy diggers and what he hopes to show his little brother about diggers.

Cute illustrations that capture the imagination of a small child.

Recommended for 2 and up.

[Jordan Wiebenga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is informational and it is great for kids under 2nd grade. I loved the pictures and they can really help students who are beginning readers get context to try and figure out words they don't know.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the backhoe enthusiast.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely perfect for preschool-age boys who love trucks.

[Anna Jewkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was perfect for my 3 year old and his little brother!

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the big brother/little brother relationship depicted here.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very popular!

[Melenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute read

[Julie Ditton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son loves zimmerman's books. The pictures are always engaging too.

[Mama C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my preschooler's favorite book ever! It's definitely his dream to own an excavator so he identifies with the boy in the story!

[Jaime T]

Brody Favorite

[Nadina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and simple. Kids would enjoy it.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ideal for very young readers, this board book follows a young boy as he imagines what things will be like when he's older and can operate a huge digging truck. Sweetly, he dreams of one day creating a playground where he and his little brother can play. As the two play with trucks in their house and read a book about big trucks, he anticipates teaching his sibling everything that he knows about them. This is a good depiction of a healthy family relationship built around common interests. The illustrations, created with acrylics, are bright, colorful, and filled with many images of trucks, even in the bathtub. This is a good title for sharing with anyone who loves big vehicles, but be prepared for listeners to provide their own sound effects for the story.

[Ro Menendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title makes me smile! A little boy sees himself as a DIGGER MAN! in this board book about hopes and dreams for a little boy and his love for digger machines and his brother. The boy takes us through the impressive work he will do with his digger which includes clearing debris, creating a pond, and even a park where he and his brother will play. Young readers will understand the possibilities this big yellow machine has and conversations about what they would like to do with their favorite object are begging to be had after reading all about Digger Man!

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colorful cartoon illustrations focus on the relationship between two brothers and the older sibling’s dreams of owning a digger. Large spreads show the bright yellow digger in action, which will draw in young readers who love vehicles. The pictures display the young boy operating the digger, which may seem strange to adult readers but reflects the character’s capable imagination. Children from birth through age four will enjoy this simple story that celebrates this favorite construction vehicle.

[Ann Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Digger Man, a little boy imagines what it would be like to own his own digger truck. The cheerful illustrations and the boy's imaginative vision of his future as a digger man made this picture book a joy to read. I think toddlers and preschoolers (especially those inclined to love planes, trains, and automobiles) will enjoy this story as it introduces them to what diggers actually do as well as to the concept of imagination.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using a child's imagination Digger Man shows children how to use toys in pretend play situations. A big brother describes all the things he want to use what is really a front-loader to dig and make places for him and his little brother to play. This is a great book to introduce children to sharing and playing together on a common project in a sandbox when working with a group of preschool children. The illustrations are bright, clear and appealing to young children.

[Doria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very nice board book, clearly designed to be read to boys. However, the content and general narrative are perfectly acceptable and appealing to girls as well, with the exception of the language, which is pointedly Male Only. For reading aloud to a pre-literate audience, I chose to substitute gender-neutral language, so as to make it more broadly inviting and less exclusionary. Diggers can be fun for everybody!

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text was brief and the pictures were okay, but the kids at the daycare loved this anyway. There wasn't much opportunity to engage them about what was going on in the book. It would have been nice if the end pages had the names of the various types of vehicles pictured in the book for older kids.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the best thing about this book are the crisp, clear illustrations. My son loved pointing out all the different trucks, which are colorful and well-defined. It is also a good book to talk about all the different things a bulldozer can do. Its short sentences make it easy for a new reader to read, and it is a sweet depiction of brotherly love.

[Anastasia Tuckness · Rating 3 out of 5]

This board book is an adaptation of the picture book of the same name, so it has a real storyline and would be enjoyed by 1-2 year olds who like an actual story.

The boy talks a lot about his younger brother and what he can and can't do, so it would be a good read for young children with even younger siblings.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son loves this story. He has me read it over and over and over (he's 2). I only rated it a 4 b/c it's a WHEEL LOADER. Authors need to stop calling every piece of heavy equipment diggers. So, I change the words when I read it to my son. We call the book Loader Man.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy imagines buying a huge digger and working as a digger man to construct a playground for his little brother. A bright and colorful concept picture book that will be especially enjoyed by preschool machine lovers.