Bulldozer's Big Rescue

by Elise Broach, Kelly Murphy (illustrator)

From the award-winning team who created Masterpiece comes a charming chapter book about a young bulldozer who is nervous about making friends and starting school.

Bulldozer is shy when it comes to making new friends and nervous about starting school. But when he meets his new neighbor Millie and her little brother Jay, Bulldozer embarks on a daring adventure to rescue a stranded cat. With the help of his own machinery—and a plate of freshly baked cookies—Bulldozer overcomes his fears just by being himself.

The beloved team of Elise Broach and Kelly Murphy are back with a compelling new series about an endearing bulldozer living in a human world. Each book contains five chapters, perfect for emerging listeners learning how to read on their own.

Genres: Friendship, Chapter Books, Juvenile, Childrens, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 21, 2025

About the author

Elise Broach is the New York Times bestselling author of children's books including Masterpiece, Shakespeare's Secret, Desert Crossing, Missing on Superstition Mountain (the first book in the Superstition Mountain Trilogy) as well as several picture books. Her books have been selected as ALA notable books, Junior Library Guild selections, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book, a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teenage, an IRA Teacher's Choice, an E.B. White Read Aloud Award, and nominated for an Edgar Award, among other distinctions. Ms. Broach holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from Yale University. She was born in Georgia and lives in the woods of rural Connecticut, walking distance from three farms, a library, a post office and two country stores.

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

Reviews

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m assuming the idea is to look past the fact that bulldozer is a (bulldozer) and everyone else in her family and neighborhood are humans, but I just couldn’t. I didn’t understand. Maybe kids will be able to look past that? It’s very confusing to me.

[DaNae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remember how Stuart Little, a mouse, had human parents with no explanation? Well, how about a bulldozer? This was pretty adorable if implausible. A nice, unique, addition to an early chapter book section.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children's first chapter book. My son is into trucks, so this immediately caught my eye. I have not yet read it with him, so these are the thoughts from reading on my own. The text is very clear, with a larger than usual font and double spacing. The illustrations are plentiful, done in a yellow and gray palette. The story itself has a good message about friendship, specifically on how to start one. I liked the list at the end of the story: He shared something with somebody he didn't know, he did something with somebody he didn't know, he helped somebody he didn't know, and he asked someone he didn't know to play a game; and he made himself a friend. 3.5 stars rounded down.

The main thing that keeps this from being a 4 star read is that the main character is a humanized bulldozer, but the rest of the characters are actual humans. Including Bulldozer's mother. So that is never explained and a bit odd.

[Roben · Rating 3 out of 5]

B is an anthropomorphic bulldozer who lives with a family of humans. He is playing with cars in the backyard and wants someone to play with. His mom suggests he go across the street and meet the new neighbors - take a plate of cookies to welcome them to the neighborhood. But B is very shy. Mom pretty much insists (why couldn't she walk over with him?). Anyway - B rings the doorbell, delivers the cookies and meets the Patels. Jay is younger than B but Millie is about the same age. Jay wants a ride - B isn't too happy about that but acquiesces. And almost runs over a cat. The cat runs up the tree, everyone is yelling at B... But then they work together to rescue the cat. Jay has to go home for a nap and Millie comes over to play cars with B. Oh - and the Patels adopt the cat and name it Sunset.

I am guessing younger kids won't have a problem with B living with a family of humans, getting ready to go to school, eating cookies, etc. But it was a bit confusing for me.

[Aimee | aimeeds.reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bulldozer's Big Rescue is a story about being brave and making new friends. I liked how inclusive this book was with different races, but it was a little bit of a...different story. I read this with my 4 year old boy who liked it, but kept asking why everyone were people and Bulldozer was, well a bulldozer. Within the first few pages you meet Bulldozer's human mom, and that started his questions. When Bulldozer meets his new neighbors, one just asks him for a ride. Which did seem a little weird since bulldozer is meant to be another child in this story. We had fun reading it, but probably not a favorite for us.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the ARC for review.

[Dest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels didactic but charming. Bulldozer learns how to make a friend. There is a challenge at the end that involves finding verbs, nouns, and word families. The illustrations are plentiful and cute.

Like a lot of other readers, I find the anthropomorphic bulldozer in a world of humans puzzling. It reminds me a little of Paddington, who is the only bear among humans, but in Paddington it's explained how he got there. In this book, we are supposed to accept that B is like a human child in bulldozer form with no explanation.

This seems aimed at Kindergarteners and 1st graders (Bulldozer has anxiety about starting school and likes to race trucks in his backyard), but it is packaged like a book for 2nd or 3rd grade independent readers.

[Jester · Rating 3 out of 5]

After coming from Masterpiece and Duet, I thought I would like this. Unfortunately, I didn't. This is for a bit younger readers than the previously stated books. It was short, so I finished it even though it wasn't to my liking.

The plot is simple. It's about a bulldozer named Bulldozer, or "B" for short, who is shy when it comes to the new neighbors. He goes over with a plate of cookies his mother baked to introduce himself and meets the Patels, a younger boy named Jay, and a girl his age named Millie. He doesn't like them at first, but eventually things work out.

Note: Using new rating system starting 2025.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm generally not a fan of kids books where an anthropomorphic animal or machine is living amongst humans with no explanation. It feels so odd and brings up all kinds of questions like "what do they eat?" and "how do they ride in a car?" I felt the same with this title, but it did begin to make sense when the focus was on how B didn't fit into his classroom. Kids will easily recognize the feeling that you are too big or too loud or too much for a room or a group. B still feels hesitant about school at the end of the day, but has gained confidence that he can find his place, just like everyone else.

[Nicole Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book for my honest opinion.

A new family just moved into Bulldozer’s neighborhood and his mom wants him to go say hi. Can Bulldozer overcome his shyness to make new friends? This is was a cute early reader book. We weren’t sure why Bulldozer was a literal bulldozer but my four-year-old loved it. I really appreciated the diversity in this book and the surprising amount of good backmatter about reading and vocabulary was great! A wonderful book for those kiddos who are reluctant and/or shy readers and love anything to do with wheels or construction.

[Brandi Rae Fong]

This was cute; the fact that Bulldozer is part of a human family in a town full of humans...it's just kind of the way it is.

This seems to be going out mostly to my patrons with kids who either are on the younger side (5-ish) but can already read independently, or to kids who can't read yet but really want to read chapter books like their siblings but still need read alouds to have short chapters and pictures.

[Elizabeth Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable beginning reader about a sentient bulldozer who is nervous about making a new friend. I loved that the main character, B, is the only vehicular character. He has a human family and his origins are never brought up, which adds to the quirky delight of the story. The vocabulary is on par for a beginning reader and the subject matter is relatable to young kids who get nervous to make new friends. Very sweet story.

[Corian Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was really strange. The bulldozer has a mom who is a human and it mentions sisters but are they human? I didn’t really like the characters and I can’t think of an audience for it. It’s not really about trucks or machinery which was what I was hoping for.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure if I like how whiny bulldozer is—and it’s kind of a weird concept that he has human parents—but my three year old liked it as a read-aloud.

[Mary T · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was painful to get through. A bulldozer who lives in a human world with a human mom? What?!! This MAYBE could have worked as a fanciful picture book but as a chapter book? No way.

[Theo Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t really get past the fact that bulldozer’s mom is a human

[Chelsey Trout · Rating 3 out of 5]

My bulldozer obsessed son loved this one. The illustrations are adorable but the story could do more.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I'm conflicted about this emergent reader / short chapter book which feature's a bulldozer as the main character with a human mom and supporting characters.

[Amber]

(read with my 2nd grader)

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shy Bulldozer, or B, meets a new neighbor and gradually gets comfortable enough to play with her.
Why does Bulldozer have a human mom? Why is he the only inanimate character?

[Ashlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Son really liked this book. He was able to read most of it in 1st grade. I read with him