Mighty Truck: Zip and Beep

Mighty Truck #5

by Chris Barton, Troy Cummings (Illustrations)

Clarence was just a muddy pickup. One day there was a big storm, and lightning zapped the car wash. Now Clarence has a secret: Water turns him into MIGHTY TRUCK!

Mighty Truck is super strong, super fast . . . and a super fun babysitter!

When Hattie’s bulldozer cousins Zip and Beep visit Axleburg, Clarence offers to watch them on his day off. Zip and Beep play tag, kick the can, and jump jumper cables—but no matter how fast they zoom, Zip and Beep just don’t run out of gas! How can Clarence keep up with these wheely energetic youngsters

Sounds like a job for Mighty Truck!

Mighty Truck: Zip and Beep is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it’s perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Trucks

32 pages, Paperback

Published December 4, 2018

About the author

I'm the author of picture books including WE MATCH! (2025), bestseller SHARK VS. TRAIN, Sibert Honor-winning THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS, and WHOOSH! LONNIE JOHNSON'S SUPER-SOAKING STREAM OF INVENTIONS, which has been celebrated on 21 state reading lists.

Other well-known titles of mine include 88 INSTRUMENTS, HOW TO MAKE A BOOK (ABOUT MY DOG), FIRE TRUCK VS. DRAGON, DAZZLE SHIPS, THE AMAZING AGE OF JOHN ROY LYNCH, and WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A VOICE LIKE THAT?

My newest books include GLITTER EVERYWHERE! WHERE IT CAME FROM, WHERE IT'S FOUND & WHERE IT'S GOING (one of National Public Radio's "Books We Love" for 2023) and MOVING FORWARD: FROM SPACE-AGE RIDES TO CIVIL RIGHTS SIT-INS WITH AIRMAN ALTON YATES (a School Library Journal Best Book of 2022).

I visit schools by the score and also love speaking to professional gatherings of librarians, educators, and fellow writers.

I'm married to middle-grade/YA novelist Jennifer Ziegler (WORSER, HOW NOT TO BE POPULAR). Jennifer and I have four adult children and one dog, and we co-host the children’s literature video series “This One’s Dedicated to…” in which we talk with other authors and illustrators about the dedications they’ve written for their books.

Jennifer and I live in Austin, where I serve as vice president of the Texas Institute of Letters, a 501(c)(3) non-profit honor society founded in 1936 to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement.

For more information about me, please visit www.chrisbarton.info or linktr.ee/bartography.

Reviews

[Joy Keil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute idea, but a bit hard to understand the concept. Maybe meant for a bit older reader and probably need to be read in order?
The kids enjoy the bright illustrations!

Edit: read again 3 years later. Somehow, I dislike this more.

[Christine Hwang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story.

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yep

[Carol Pirog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mighty Good Book

Cute story for preschooler or beginning readers. Perfect book to give as a gift. Order it today on Kindle Books.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't really been impressed with these books other than my son loves trucks. They seem to have a cute idea, but take it the wrong direction. In this one, he offers to watch his boss's little cousins, and honestly is somewhat negligent, such as telling them to run off to play hide-and-seek so he can change into Mighty Truck without them seeing.
Also - he originally asked for a day off work because he had worn himself out, but offered to watch the cousins because he didn't realize they would be so much work. Then when he asks for another day off, his boss says he can watch even more cousins. He then says he'd rather work because it's less tiring. This is a funny and true statement, but