Little Blue Truck

Little Blue Truck

by Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry (Illustrator)

Beep! Beep! Beep! Meet Blue. A muddy country road is no match for this little pickup--that is, until he gets stuck while pushing a dump truck out of the muck. Luckily, Blue has made a pack of farm animal friends along his route. And they're willing to whatever it takes to get their pal back on the road.
Filled with truck sounds and animals noises, here is a rollicking homage to the power of friendship and the rewards of helping others. This bestselling board book now includes a free downloadable party kit and audio, read by the author.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Storytime, Transport, Friendship

30 pages, Board Book

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

Alice Schertle has written more than 40 books, mostly for children. A mother and former elementary school teacher, Ms. Schertle is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Many of her most famous works are poetic in nature, though she writes about a wide variety of topics.

Reviews

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dump truck gets stuck in the mud; plucky little blue truck can only get him out with the help of all his friends. Kids learn about kindness and teamwork.



Or...do they?

In the end it's the addition of the little green frog who pushes them over the edge; that last little bit is enough to help the dump truck.



Or...is it?

Let's tell this story another way.
A mighty machine can only be moved by the combined strength of every citizen. Whatever their individual strengths, all must join in the struggle to move the enormous truck. Even if, like the frog, they are not best suited for pushing, they must join equally in the fight. If all pull together, even the largest tasks can be accomplished.

Sound familiar? That's because it is COMMUNISM!


"Everybody is fully occupied in production"

You know what Little Blue Truck sounds like to me? It sounds like Little Red Book, and this story is an allegory for Mao's Great Leap Forward, during which everyone, regardless of their innate ability or training, was set to melting metal down into steel. The real-life result was a lot of bad steel and no one had any pots left. But is any of that acknowledged in this insidious communist propaganda? Of course not!


"With great labor we will fulfill the plan"

Real talk: a frog can't move a dump truck. That's stupid. The American Way is you best call a tow truck, and if you can't afford a tow truck then you have a truck problem. And if you allow your child to be indoctrinated into the Red Army, before you know it she's going to run off thinking she can farm or smelt or push dump trucks or whatever, and let me be straight with you, friend: she can't. She can't do any of those things. You've been reading her cute little rhyming books. She's suited to go to college and become a software engineer. Here's some real propaganda:



Indoctrinate your child at the altar of Atari, friend, or she's gonna learn the hard way what really happens when frogs meet trucks.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book that teaches children the value of friendship! Books like this challenge small children to see that we all have unique personalities and perspectives on given subjects; I think that by understanding this it is a way to integrate more fully into groups. This might be a good choice for a small child having problems making friends.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover -
Zo leuk, ik ken het in het Engels. De moraal van het verhaal voor mij is dat al ben je klein, de de grote bromberen van de wereld kun jij helpen, met de hulp van veel lieve vrienden. Eendracht maakt macht. Mooie herfstachtige tekeningen met op elke bladzijde vier regels op rijm. Wat ik erg leuk vind zijn de in aparte kleuren aangegeven woorden de de dierengeluiden weergeven. Zo kan je peuter al snel meedoen in het verhaal. 🐈🐥🐇🦋🦋

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The little blue truck encounters a large dump truck that is stuck in the mud. Can he push the big truck out? This is a wonderful story about friendship, being helpful, and working together to solve a problem. Told in rhyme, young children would love this story!

[Julia Lindquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute banger

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Little Blue Truck drives through the country, making friends with all the animals. This comes in handy when he gets stuck in a mud puddle trying to help out a big, yellow truck who doesn't see the value of friendship at first.

Filled with rhymes and the opportunity to mimic animal sounds from frogs to goats to sheep to ducks, this one was a big hit with Shortcake. It's a fun book with colorful illustrations that has a good message in there about friendship. I could see us reading this one several more times as Daddy works on his silly animal sounds.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

My toddler is obsessed with this book. We have to read it every morning as soon as he wakes up. He's three, and he's been going through that phase where they won't sit still and you can't read to them, and then suddenly WHAM he loves this book and can't get enough. I usually have to read it, then Little Owl Lost, Sheep in a Jeep, and then Little Blue Truck again. And that's okay! All the rhymes scan, I love the art, and it's not annoying! Hooray for board books that a mommy can read over and over without becoming stabby!

[Jack Schutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have read this about 30 times in the past few weeks. A true classic. Basically “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” but with better illustrations. As a bonus, my animal noises have really improved, though I don’t think my son has noticed.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son has at least a hundred books at this point, which is impressive considering he's not yet six months old. I've read this one three or four times while trying to keep him occupied. While cute, this is not one of my favorites.

While written in verse, the author plays fast and loose with the number of syllables per line at times, making it a little awkward when I half sing it aloud to him. I like the little blue truck, the green frog, and the others. The yellow dump truck is an asshole, though. The message seems to be about helping others but why should I teach my son to help someone that's been a dickhead to the entire neighborhood? Relax, I'm not as cynical as all that and I've helped my share of dickheads over the years against my better judgement. On a side note, the art is pretty spectacular.

Kidding aside, Little Blue Truck is a cute little book. Just not in the league of the Pout-Pout Fish or the Elephant that Liked to Smash Small Cars.

[Arika Lawshe · Rating 3 out of 5]

10/10 children’s book.
I’ve read this no less than 500 times this year. Im counting it towards my goal 🤣

[Clara D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing story, melodic writing style, and Great character Dynamics. Well executed twist ending where the animals all helped the trucks out of the mud. And, great romance between the little blue truck and the Big Important Dump Truck. Should have spent more time on the Sheep's character development.
I ship the horse and the toad l, and no one can convince me they aren't together.
Generally good book. Would recommend.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My most read book in 2025 deserved a permanent spot on my shelf. Didn’t meet my Goodreads goal, but read this probably more than 365x this year. A timeless tale about friendship, helping others, and one surprisingly buff toad who saves the day. I could recite this book in my sleep.

[Nick Schlegel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to think of myself as a super athlete with great coordination skills. But asking me to press the OINK button and read OINK aloud at the same time??? Bridge too far. I’m just a normal dad not a superhero!!!

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never got to find out how it ended because nephew was turning the pages too fast

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac's visual interest 👀 (3 is top): untested
How good it is as a book for me to read aloud while breastfeeding 🍼 (3 is top): 🍼🍼🍼

I'm currently obsessed with this book! I teared up in my first read!

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the experience of this book...I sang it. While reading it aloud my daughter said it reminded her of a country song hahaha, so I turned it into one and sang the whole book. We had some laughs. So the memories created gave it 5 stars.

The book it's self 4.

[William Sime · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m an LBT Stan. Fun noises, good morals, and good storyline! What more could you want?! Baby book perfection.

[Naomi Saucke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve learned a valuable lesson here!

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too preachy but cute; good rhyming though the author doesn't know a bay horse from a brown horse (or maybe it's the illustrator who doesn't); simple story line; toddlers and threes enjoy the pictures and the word play and enjoy reading it over and over.

[Tara Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beep! Beep! Beep! Meet Blue. A muddy country road is no match for this little pick up--that is, until he gets stuck while pushing a dump truck out of the muck. Luckily, Blue has made a pack of farm animal friends along his route. And they're willing to whatever it takes to get their pal back on the road.
Filled with truck sounds and animals noises, here is a rollicking homage to the power of friendship and the rewards of helping others

[Janee Fritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the adventures of this little blue truck even tho I have so many questions about the world. Like why does sentient car need to driven by a toad? Or does Little Blue simply allow toad to sit behind the wheel because they’re friends? We may never know. But I do know I love reading these books to my daughter.

[Laura Scribner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, that’s right. I’m giving myself credit for reading this book. A baby book, hard pages and all. And I’m giving it five whole stars. Because this was one of the least-dumb baby books I’ve read, and we’ve been reading a lot of them lately.

Don’t be hating. That’s for big fat dump(truck)s.

We’re lovers in this family, just like the little blue truck, bitches.

[Ronnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best children’s book. Definitely my favorite. Lots of friendly animals and vehicles. Also the illustrations are fantastic.

[Susan Derry · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the book I’ve read the most this year

[Jer Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

A respectable entry into the world of farm equipment/heavy machinery literature, but it can't hold a candle to the bestest book of all time, Bob the Backhoe, which mysteriously went missing around the same time that my aunt Lydia volunteered at the local library book sale.

I'm sure it will turn up again soon.

[Jacob Lacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressed with the amount of substance packed into this novel considering it's brief page count. "Little Blue Truck"(LBT) on the surface tells the story of a popular truck teaching a dump Truck the valuable lesson of friendship. If your interpretation stops there, I believe you are missing the real genius of the author, Alice Schertle. Allow me to elaborate.

LBT begins with sound before sight. "Horn went "Beep!" Engine purred. Friendliest sounds you ever heard." We're hear the titular character before we see him. The significance of this is we the audience have to hypothesize on our own as to LBT's origins. We don't know where he comes from or where he is going. LBT simply IS. So who is he? Lucky for us, the illustrator, Jill McElmurry, gives us a clue. LBT sits on the bottom left corner of the page, waiting at a stop sign. This is a clear meant to invoke Dante's opening to "The Divine Comedy." Standing at the gates of Hell "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Our hero, LBT, stands on the precipice of the abyss, how did he get here? We don't know. What's he searching for? Who knows. Ten words into the story and we are on the edge of our seat. The next logical question is, where is Vigil? Let's turn the page.

"Little Blue Truck came down the road. "Beep!" said Blue to a big green toad. Toad said, "Croak!" and winked an eye when Little Blue Truck went rolling by."
LTB is now on the move, he has entered the arena and now has his guide (Virgil). Toad takes his position on top of LBT. LBT provides the power, the drive, the motivation, Toad will provide direction (at least for now). The next two pages introduces more characters, Sheep, Cow, a piggy, chicken, chick, goat, horse, and finally duck. Notice how LBT communicates with his companions. He only issues a series of beeps and they respond with their appropriate animal sound (i.e. baa, moo, oink, etc.). We learn that LBT has enough authority and relationship with all these animals that he commands their attention whenever he calls, but they can only communicate on a primal level. Schertle draws our imagination to John 10:27, "My sheep [friends] hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." LBT is their Shepard, he is their Lord. They hear his Beep and they follow him.

Continuing on, we are introduced to our final character and antagonist, the Dump Truck (DT).

"Honk!" yelled a dump Truck. "Coming through!" I've got big important things to do! I haven't got time to pass the day with every duck along the way!"

Similar to LBT, our introduction to DT is audible before visible. We know not where the DT originates but he immediately fills the page (both literally and figuratively). The DT believes his broad stature gives him an elevated position in the world. His arrival disrupts the parade following LBT. The sheep may follow their master's voice but the LBT's Beep is lost in the noise of the Dump (or symbolically the noise of the world, the noise of our own ego). DT is so disruptive, that even Toad, our Virgil, our guide, abandons his post atop LBT. Now our hero is without his compass, both practically lost but as we will soon see morally lost as well.

We all know what happens next. The DT, in his pride, goes around the curve, sees a puddle, and tries to swerve. He rolls into the mud and his "big important wheels got STUCK!" The DT cries out for help but "nobody hears (or nobody cares)". LBT steps up, without Virgil, and believes his own strength will be sufficient to push DT out of his predicament. Of course he is wrong. "Now both Blue and the Dump were BOTH stuck tight." Where are they? Schertle tells us it is only some muck and mire but we the audience know, following her cues of Dante and the Gospel of John, that we actually find ourselves in the depths of Hell.

Blue cries out "Help Help Help" and "I'm stuck! I'm stuck!" But it isn't until he utters a clear "Beep! Beep! Beep!" that the cow, pig, and sheep come running. We see how far LBT's flock was scattered by his prideful descent into Hell, because even after he clearly calls our his recognizable "Beep!", it takes multiple pages for his entire flock to arrive. The goat even has to go so far as to "jump over the fence". If the goat was truly following the LBT, why would he be behind a fence? It's because LBT himself put up the fence. After Toad (Virgil), jumps ship, LBT obviously believed he no longer needed his flock, needed his support system so he put up emotional barriers that actualized themselves into physical fences.

Once LBT remembers who he is and calls out his natural "Beep!", his crew returns in almost full force. All except Toad. Everyone pushes, "head to head and rump, they all pushed Blue ‐ who pushed the Dump." Notice how only Blue is pushing the Dump. They all have committed themselves fully to the mission, but only so far as pushing Blue. Schertle is now channeling St. Pope John Paul II and his teachings on Theology of the Body. Head to head and rump to rump is clearly invoking images of the marital act. Of course, this is a children's book and isn't meant to be sexual in nature, but we are supposed to see that these characters are trying to fully give themselves to each other, the same way a husband and wife do, but because they have introduced inhibitors to their self giving act (not allowed their energy to transfer to Dump), they are doomed to fail in their efforts, just like a man and woman when contraception or other emotional barriers are introduced to their relationship.

Finally, Toad (Virgil) arrives back on the scene and has had enough of watching them struggle. He unites the who team and "All together one... two.... three... (notice the Trinitarian language) One last oush and the trucks were FREE". Once the animals put their differences aside, they were only then able to help both Blue and the Dump.

But wait, Schertle won't let the story end on such a high note. She's much too clever for that. Like many great Greek stories and medieval plays, the story of the Little Blue Truck is a tragedy.

"Thanks, little brother," said the Dump to Blue. "You helped me and they helped you."..... Dump completely misses the point of what just happened. He falsely believes that he was freed only because the animals wanted to free Blue. He is living a lie. Now you might reasonable consider that he could not see everything going on behind him and I would agree. But then it is up to our hero, LBT, to correct the Dump, to instruct the ignorant, and most importantly, give credit to his friends and Toad (Virgil) for uniting them and removing all barriers to community. Only because of the fully united group helping Dump does he get out. What does Blue do? Takes all the credit for himself and commands everyone to climb aboard. But our illustrator comes to the rescue again, Toad is no longer on top of Blue, he is now isolated within LBT's cabin, away from the rest of the animals. Toad is no longer able to communicate with the rest of the animals, he only appears to be united with the group, when in reality, he is a prisoner within the Ego of LBT.

The final page is a haunting image of Blue driving off into the unknown without Toad in sight. Its safe to assume he is still trapped within Blue's cold metallic shell.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!" Blue commands as he drives away, with no guidance and no moral compass guiding him. Blue has not grown through his journey, instead he is exactly where we started the novel, right on the precipice of Hell. "Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here."

In conclusion, this book contains many more layers than the publisher and most readers may appreciate. Thank you Alice Schertle for giving your masterpiece to the world. I hope more people will begin to appreciate your genius by reading this review.

My 18th month old son demands that this epic be read to him 8-9 times per hour and I can only conclude it is because you have tapped deep into the human psyche. I may take time to review some of the sequels, I am sure they are just as complex and fruitful as the original. For the time being, read far and read well my friends.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat! I love the blend of farm animals, vehicles, and rhymes--all popular with little ones; when combined in such a winsome and skilled fashion, with Schertle's fine text and McElmurry's adorable, expressive illustrations, they make one great story about friendship, compassion, humility and staying true to yourself. This would make a superb read-aloud!

[Chinook · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have been reading this a lot lately. It's so cute. Love the rhyming, love the illustrations, love the story.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a charming little book this is with a lesson to little ones on how being kind, friendly, and caring brings its own rewards. The rhymes and the country setting make me automatically add a twang to my delivery as I'm reading it to my son.

Sheep said, "Baaa!"
Cow said, "Moo!"
"Oink!" said a piggy.
"Beep!" said Blue.

It sort of makes me feel like I'm calling out a square dance which adds to the entertainment value. No doubt this one will age well, I can see my little twanging along and singing out the noises along with me as he gets older.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations and a sweet message.

Read as part of my new "Settle back Sunday" initiative where I take advantage of access to children's books I can borrow and give back. When I was a kid, the weekly trips to our town library were some of the few things I loved about my childhood. And the pile of books mom would bring home, from picture books to chapter books, were the things that got me through many a terrible time.