Trashy Town

by Andrea Zimmerman, David Clemesha, Dan Yaccarino (Illustrator)

Meet Mr. Gilly. He cleans up Trashy Town. There’s trash at the pizza parlor, trash at the school, and trash at  every  house. It’s a big job, but Mr. Gilly does it with a big truck, a big smile, and loads of style. Trashy Town features a rhythmic, repeatable refrain that will have children clamoring for repeat readings. Dynamic art from acclaimed illustrator Dan Yaccarino puts the zip in Mr. Gilly’s stride and adds style and charm to trash collection. Perfect for fans of all books about things that GO and how things work—plus for units on community helpers. Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy Town! An ALA Notable Children’s Book

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Transport, Trucks, Fiction, Pre K

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 27, 1999

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

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be five stars except I keep jarring on the language of 'trash', 'trash cans' 'trash truck', when we usually say rubbish or garbage, bins, and garbage truck. Not the book's fault. And also although I *like* the illustrations aesthetically, they are not in themselves particularly informative (in terms of the text). Having said that, yesterday my 2.5yo pointed out the truck and told me 'this is a garbage truck' and traced his finger all around the edge of the shape. So perhaps he's responding more to the graphic quality of the images than I give him credit for. And why not; he's getting older now and can understand things slightly more abstractly. And he thinks it's hilarious that (spoiler!) Mr Gilly takes a bath when he's an adult - he thinks adults only have showers. tee hee. Yes anyway, the text is absolutely wonderful, it flows along with a great rhythm, and after about our fourth read (not on the same day) my child started to chant along with me. So that's nice. He also likes the mice. Recommended (by me) for even very small children, like 1 up. And for the garbage truck obsessed, at any age.

[Ms. Shoshana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nearly perfect preschool storytime book. It's been a hit with ever group I've used it with.

It's nice to find a book for the common "community helper" unit that actually has a story, not just a boring info dump.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quickly became my kids’ all time favorite.

[Jessica O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

High interest topic for toddlers, repeating phrase you can sing along to, can you find the mice on each page?

[Hezekiah Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trash trucks are my new favorite trucks to look for while I’m in sitting in the car

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The children I cared for loved the repetition of the phrase in this book. They helped Mr. Gilly through their day!

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alistair (2) always loves running to see the garbage truck when it comes and he recently watched the Mr. Rogers on trash and recycling so I knew he'd be interested in this and he was. A "trash man" drives all over town collecting the trash in his trash truck.

I just want to add to my review because Alistair has wanted to read this book twice every night and repeats the rhyming refrain. The rhythm of the book is great for toddlers and they can get involved by saying along with you the repeating parts. Definitely a new favorite.

[D'Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 20 month old son is obsessed with garbage trucks right now and he loves this book, though he is really only interested in the pages that show the truck. The focus of this book is the garbage man, Mr. Gilly, and most of the pages feature illustrations of him picking up trash cans. We don't really see him getting in and out of the truck or throwing trash into the truck, which are my son's favorite aspects of this vocation. Mr. Gilly picks up trash from several locations including a school, a park, and a doctor's office. The latter is particularly fun when reading this book to kids who can't read yet because you can add stuff like, "Mr. Gilly, that's medical waste. That needs to be specially and carefully disposed of. Watch out for hypodermic needles!" At least that's how my son's aunt read it to him.

[Mama Bibliosoph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Gilly is a trash collector who works hard each day to clean up Trashy Town. He visits the school, the pizza parlor, the doctor's office, the park, and the fire station, and empties the trash cans into his truck; then he takes it all to the dump; and at the end of the day, he goes home for a well-earned bath.

With each collection stop, there is a repeated chorus, set in a rectangular, black sidebar on the right of each spread.

This book is perfect for kids with autism. My son Luke has asked for this book every night at bedtime for about three months running, and unlike most of his favorites, he enjoyed this one right out of the gate because there is a predictable, repetitive structure; there is rhythm; and (most critically) there are fill-ins that allow him to yell "NO!", which he finds endlessly fun.

It's unfortunate that Mr. Gilly is described in the book as a trashman, and not a trash collector or a sanitation worker (or something else both common and gender neutral). But these are very minor quibbles. Trashy Town is a truly marvelous book.

---
I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post on books for kids who really love trucks: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/20-boo...

[Sarah Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trashy Town was awarded the Notable Children’s Book Award for the story of Mr. Gilly, the town’s garbage collector. He travels in the garbage truck collecting trash from different locations and dropping it off at the dump. He then goes home for a well-deserved bath. This contemporary realistic fiction creates a character and situation that focuses on the importance of one of our community helpers. Although this book is directed for readers of the age 4-8 years old, I believe younger readers would find just as much joy and interest in the repetition. I rated this book 5 stars because the plot and characters make this community helper a hero and helps paint the picture that no job is inconsequential. I would use this books in my classroom to show that and prove to children you can find happiness in any job that you enjoy. This book was full of wonderful illustrations that would draw in any reader with the shapes and happy facial expressions. I think this is a great story time book and should be added to your classroom!

[Megan Ballard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Gilly is the local trashman. With a big truck and a big smile on his face, the children stare in amazement as he cleans up Trashy Town. I really liked this book because of the fact that a trashman is painted as a hero. I would use this to teach my class that we do not look down on others and that no job is meaningless. I would use Mr. Gilly to show my kids that they can find joy in any future job they may have, and that happiness is determined by a person's attitude. Also, I would take the opportunity to stress the importance of keeping our streets clean. Picking up trash goes a long way in helping create a cleaner environment, which is a valuable lesson for the future of the world to learn.

[Amanda Kearney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trashy Town is about a man named Mr. Gilly who is a trash man. He stops throughout different places in the town to collect trash. The book uses repetition and rhyming. It is very easy to understand for young children who are just learning to read. Once Mr. Gilly collects all the trash from the town his work is done and the town is clean. He gets to go home and take a bath. It is a very cute and fun book.
This book can teach students to do work, such as homework, with a good attitude just as Mr. Gilly did. Clean up trash isn't always fun, but Mr.s Gilly had a smile on his face through the whole book. It is also a fun book for students to participate in. It asks the question "Is the trash truck full yet?" This is where the students could join in on the reading and either say "yes" or "no."

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I am reading this title better than twenty years after its publication, it is still a very viable picture book as this procedure has not changed over the years. Text is easily understood and has a recurring refrain about dumping the trash and then a question, is the truck full yet which makes the child anticipate the next page. Love that the illustrator, Dan Yaccarino, added two recurring mice to each double page spread. Be sure to look for them as they are not always easily seen.
I read the picture book and the board book at the same time. It really does not work as a board book as the format doesn’t do Justice to the illustrations and the text is too long for the board book format audience.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book with a great, repeating cadence about a trash man driving around town picking up the trash. I love at the end when he goes home and takes a bath--he looks so friendly. My only hang up on this book is that some people might take "trashy town" the wrong way and think it's talking about the neighborhoods/people rather than the actual trash cans (even though it works so cute with the cadence of the text!).

[Kelli Koeppen · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the only things I enjoyed about this was the repetition and rhyming scheme. I was not a fan of the illustrations; there was not much depth and did not elevate the text at all. With that, the words were not a favorite of mine either. Very simplistic and not much... oomph? I had high wishes for this text with the title and it was a very realistic interpretation when I was hoping for something more fantastical.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lends itself to interaction in a storytime, where all the kids "dump it in, smash it down, and drive around the Trashy Town." It worked well in a toddler storytime, where we then washed ourselves (with scarves), like Mr. Gilly, afterwards. With a smaller, older audience, you could point out the clues in the pictures that indicate what type of building it is or follow the mice as they ride around Trashy Town.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for young fans of garbage trucks and it can be used for story times about trash and recycling, as well as community helper discussions.

There’s a repeated, rhyming phrase « Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy Town. »

You can also have interaction with kids with the question « is the trash truck full yet? »

Best for toddlers and preschoolers.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good rhyming scheme, good pictures, but I didn't love the message. This town is gross! Are people purposefully leaving garbage outside the cans just to make the truck driver have to clean it up? And doesn't anybody recycle? It made me picture that film strip from my childhood with the stoic-faced native American man & his single tear. Then again, I may be reading waaaay too much into this.

[Jenna Vick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Gilly, the trash man, drives all around the town picking up the town's trash. He is always happy and smiles at everyone he sees. He goes to many realistic places to go pick up their trash. Once he finishes cleaning up the town, he goes home and cleans himself to prepare for the next day.

I enjoyed this book. The pictures were cute and easy to figure out. The pictures made it easy to figure out and for you to be able to picture what it looks like in your own town. The word choice was perfect! it was fun to read out loud because of all the different adjectives used.

I would use this in a classroom. It can be used for fun reading, when taking about cleaning up after yourself and others, or even on career day. It is a very realistic read which makes it more fun for the classroom.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The refrains get recycled too many times in this story to generate much interest in Mr. Gilly’s occupation, especially when the trash truck remains in the margins of the illustrations. Too bad all that trash ended up at the dump instead of a recycling center. Endnotes should have included information about the Three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and basic recycling tips.

[Dannie Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

There can never be enough garbage truck books for the storytime crowd and this is a stunning addition! I can already picture a group of preschoolers singing along the "dump it in, smash it down" right along with me.

[Breanna Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dump it in! Smash it down! Drive around Trashy Town! Dan outdid himself teaching young/young at heart about how trash is collected all over town until Mr. Gilly’s truck is full of glorious garbage! The last thing worth cleaning is yourself with a bath at the end!

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for young toddlers and preschoolers. A catchy refrain, subject widely interesting to that age group, familiar community settings, and bold graphic/geometric illustrations make this one rate highly for the 1-5 age group.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetitious language great for a group read aloud, the book has a refrain that goes: Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy Town! Also has an opportunity for kids to shout NO really loud several times which everyone knows they love.

[Dana Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

2-3 year old children love this book! It's repetitive and they can follow the mouse who rides along with the main character throughout his journey of cleaning up the town. It's also great for beginning readers 4-5 years of age to start recognizing simple sight words within the repetition.

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a popular one at library storytime, and we checked it out because of the repetitive chorus, but it gets 5 stars because it's the first book my preschooler has memorized and I love having him "read" it to me.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Gilly, Trashy Town's garbage collector, works to clean up the town...and eventually himself!

A rhythmic refrain and silly illustrations would make this a good storytime pick.

Storytime:
Community Helpers

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a lot of text for a board book, but has a great use of repetition and introduces young children to a community helper. None of the trash truck is automated and there is no mention of recycling, making it obvious how out of date this 1999 book has become.

[Becca Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is super cute! It follows Mr.Gilly, the trash man, as he picks up trash around town! The illustrations are simplistic and eye catching, reminding me of construction paper. It’s also fun because the paper of the pages feels like construction paper as well!

[Julie Ditton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Grandson loves Andrea Zimmerman books. The language is repetitive and chilren soon learn to chant the refrains. The illustrations are eye catching and invite the child to explore for detail. I liked the addition of mice hidden in each location.