Smashy Town

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

Fans of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and I Stink! will love this rhythmic and lively picture book from the popular creators of Trashy Town.

With a turn of his crane and a swing of his wrecking ball, Mr. Gilly knocks down the old buildings. He smashes through brick and wood. He crashes through stone and glass. Then, with a push from his bulldozer, Mr. Gilly cleans it all up to make room for something brand-new!

Featuring lively text from Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha and dynamic art from acclaimed illustrator Dan Yaccarino, Smashy Town is a bouncy read-aloud that will delight young vehicle lovers.

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

32 pages, Hardcover

Published May 19, 2020

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

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Join Mr. Gilly in his crane with a wrecking ball in this dynamic picture book. Mr. Gilly’s crane is slow moving, but it can do a lot. When he swings the wrecking ball and hits a wall, it goes “Smash! Smash! Smash!” When he hits it again it goes, “Crash! Crash! Crash!” The wall tumbles down. Is he done? No! On goes the demolition, the ball swinging, smashing and crashing. When it is finally finished, Mr. Gilly uses his bulldozer to clear up the mess he made. The new building starts going up as Mr. Gilly heads home to dinner and bed.

This is a picture book just right for toddlers who love trucks and machines. The text is jaunty and great fun to read aloud. It has plenty of rhyming repetition in the smash and crash as well as the repeating question of whether Mr. Gilly is done yet. Get the children you are reading to involved in the crash and smash with claps and stomps, and you have a great finishing book for a story time.

The art by Yaccarino is bold and simple, ensuring that this is great for reading to a crowd of children. The art has the same good humor and merriment as the text, offering a busy urban setting for demolition as well as a final view of a public library being built on the site.

Let this one crash your story time! Appropriate for ages 2-4.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

When an author writes a text and an illustrator accurately interprets that text and does an expansion of the text on the end papers what a joy to see the final product. This happens in Smashy Town. Mr. Gilly has work to do with his wrecking ball leveling several buildings for two projects to be constructed.
Then with four double page spreads, one using a rather long but appropriate refrain, Smash, smash, smash, the building crumble, crumble,crumbles down followed by cleanup and the arrival of the construction crew. The final two end papers illustrate two places that children love to go.
How appropriate the illustrations are drawn in the shapes of building construction materials.
A very satisfying read.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm very attached to "Trashy Town," so it's hard to compete with that. Though this was very fun with the repeated demolition section, you could do certain repeated motions/dance for a storytime.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute picture book with lots of opportunity for interaction. Excited to use this in storytime some day.

[Angela De Groot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I plucked this fun read-aloud from the library display shelf of librarians’ favorites. Mr. Holly starts his work day saying, “My crane may move at just a crawl, but watch out for my wrecking ball!” SMASH, CRASH, CRUMBLE, TUMBLE! Layer by layer Mr. Gilly demolishes an old building to make room for a new Public Library and a new City Park. Love Dan Yaccarino’s illustrations.

[MeganRuth - Alohamora Open a Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the child that loves to destroy what he/she builds, this book is for him/her. It's a story, a simple story, of demolition. There's plenty of onomatopoeias to make it a fun read aloud. Though, I'm not sure I'd use it in the library/classroom.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good to see Mr. Gilly back! I like this one just as much or maybe more than the first.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worthy sequel to "Trashy Town" by the same author

[Angela]

Mr. Gilly's got a new job in this worthy successor to the readaloud-classic Trashy Town.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Construction, demolition

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/kidsfi...

SMASHY TOWN is a huge hit for young readers! The book follows Mr. Gilly as he demolishes some old buildings to make the way for some new ones (library and park). He starts his day by putting on his hard hat and then gets to work smashing the walls with his wrecking ball. He's not done once the building has been knocked down- he then uses his bulldozer to clean up. After his demolition job is done, he heads home to have dinner and then go to bed.

The book contains rhythmic wording, and a particularly fun section where he is tearing down the building to a chant of "Go! Swing the ball, hit the wall! Smash, smash, smash..." that is absolutely delightful for toddler/preschooler ears.

What I loved: This is a simple story that is delightful to experience. From the simple illustrations to the rhythmic text, this will easily appeal to young readers. Mr. Gilly is a fun character who gets some extra attention as the book ends with him going home to enjoy spaghetti with his pets, a cat and dog, and then heading to bed. There are some fun extra details on the pages with some other construction vehicles pictures here and there as well as two pigeons that appear on each page spread. The illustrations are full page, easily capturing and keeping children's attention. The repetition is also really helpful and fun for children (as the chant is repeated for different types of building materials, such as wood and stone).

Final verdict: SMASHY TOWN is a delightful hit for young readers, particularly avid construction vehicle fans. From the rhythmic text to the fun details, this is a book with high appeal for toddlers/preschoolers.

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Gilly has had a career change! He used to work as a trash collector, but apparently times have changed. Welcome to the construction business, everyone! Mr. Gilly is going to clear away the old and make room for the new.

A simple look at the knocking down and cleaning up process in construction. Yaccarino's clear, blocky style of illustrations along with his use of primary colors has always appealed to me, especially for these lower level books. It has a bold, graphic sort of layout and feel. The rhythm and repetition, plus the cachet of trucks, might make this fun to do for storytimes, especially a Music and Movement one.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Gilly demolishes an old building and clears the lot for new construction.

This picture book will be a hit with children who love construction equipment and things that go. The repeated phrases will help young readers anticipate what will happen next and participate in the story.

The illustrations are by Dan Yaccarino in his quirky retro art style.

[Rachel Stine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for parents of toddlers and young pre-schoolers to read to their kids. Anyone interested in construction or vehicles should enjoy the colorful images and fun onomatopoeia style language. Unfortunately, the unsophisticated word choice, duplicate language on multiple pages, and simplistic vocabulary make it almost useless for an emergent reader learning early literacy skills. Your little, littles will love it. Kids 5 or 6 and up will probably need something more advanced.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Gilly is back! This time the hardworking Mr. Gilly is a demolition man who is knocking down old buildings to make way for a new library and playground. The large illustrations and bouncy repetitive format that was used in Trashy Town work just as well in this picture book. A fun and entertaining read aloud to share: "Swing the ball, hit the wall! Smash, Smash, Smash! Swing the ball, hit the wall! Crash, Crash, Crash!"

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sequel doesn’t answer questions like:
What happened to Mr. Gilley at his trash truck job?
Was he fired?
Does he have to work two jobs?
Why? He doesn’t appear to have a family.
Did he lose custody of the kids in the divorce?
Does he have a gambling addition?
Does he owe money to a bookie?


I hope the next book answers these questions.
Crashy town? Mashy town? Splashy Town?

[Rowley Write · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son (age 3) enjoyed this book. He liked the pattern and would "read" it to himself after I read it to him a couple of times. He was able to do this because of the simple pattern. The illustrations were fun and captured the action / movement of the demolition project. I also enjoyed the animals that showed up on the pages as a side story to the action.

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

If your child likes construction vehicles or trucks in general, this is a great book for them. Aimed at the younger crowd, this book about tearing down and then building up is a different one for your collection. The adults will appreciate what was built in place of rundown buildings, but the child will just like the rhymes and action within the text.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have a crane with a wrecking ball tearing down buildings and a bulldozer to clean up the mess afterwards.

This clears the land to build new buildings.

It's told as a day in the life of the operator and has a nice repeating refrain that kids can help you say.

[Jj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book includes very satisfying refrains of, "SMASH, SMASH, SMASH!" and "CRASH, CRASH, CRASH!" that I think kids will enjoy. This would be a fun one to read aloud, then re-read with motion activities.

[Gabrielle Stoller · Rating 2 out of 5]

VERY reminiscent of 'Dig, Dig, Digging" in my mind. A lot of repetition, I could see kiddos in storytime yelling SMASH SMASH SMASH and CRASH CRASH CRASH. It will definitely be a favorite of those who love anything and everything construction.

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want a book with lots of onomatopoeia and construction vehicles, this is the one. Feels like a board book to me, but nice to see underrepresented jobs like construction workers shown with respect.

[Danielle Robertson Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's an opportunity to improv workshop this material a bit to get more of a repetitive call-and-response from your kid, "Is the demolition done? No!" Cute story about a person who operates the wrecking ball.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story of demolition. It’s got some solid repetition and an onomatopoeia, as well as building procedural understanding. Missing a little bit of rhythm for me, but a fun, well-illustrated story that has entertained my small mate this week.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful pictures and lots of "Smash! Smash! Smash!" ..... "Crash! Crash! Crash!" Great fun to read with toddlers!

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Gilly is a construction worker who breaks buildings down, so new ones can go up.

[Pamela Groseclose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for storytime!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun! Love the illustrations.

[Bryan Loar · Rating 3 out of 5]

With simple, repetitive text, Smashy Town will appeal to any child enthralled with construction and things that go. A folded and gathered (F&G) pre-publication edition was reviewed.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

For: construction site/machine fans; readers looking for a book with rhythm and bold illustrations.

Possible red flags: could be seen as too repetitive.