Build!

by Anne Schwartz Books

For all young truck lovers and fans of books like Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site! Watch a series of amazing construction vehicles--a dump truck, a bulldozer, and many others--build a building unlike any other. Then delight in the surprise ending, where young readers and listeners can see that the trucks are actually toys that a little boy is playing with!


Bulldozers, dump trucks, and cranes are just a few of the vehicles working together in these pages to build something incredible. The payloader makes the hole for the foundation (DIG), the semi-loader brings in the huge blocks (HAUL), and the crane lifts them up (HOIST). But is this a real construction site, or a boy's backyard? And after the structure is done, what happens next? Yes, the inevitable: he makes it all tumble down and is ready to start all over again!

Here is an ingenious book that showcases all kinds of trucks and celebrates the joy of imaginative play. But it is also a marvel of ingenuity on the part of Red Nose Studio, who has hand-built each of the trucks, as well as the construction site, then photographed his 3-D creations. As added value, the inside of the jacket--which pictures each vehicle and a simple description of what it does--can be hung in a child's room as a poster.

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

40 pages, Hardcover

Published May 17, 2022

Reviews

[Kellee Moye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man, construction loving young kids are going to LOVE this book! And the found object illustrations are so great!

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, very visual, book about trucks and building. While this is good for younger children it will help them develop vocabulary. (not many picture books use the word 'hoist') And naturally, those who are older but love the subject matter will love this too.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Photographs of sculptures that are built by hand from wood and found objects and fashioned with clay, wire, and fabric are the stars in this construction-themed picture book. Sure to delight any young reader who loves building, trucks or books like Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, this picture book uses minimal text and extreme close-ups of the trucks as they dig, load, haul, and balance all sorts of precarious pieces in the process of building something special. And then just as it's close to being finished, it's time to do it all over again. After all, for some youngsters, part of the fun of building is knocking something down and trying to imagine other ways to use all those building blocks. The young mastermind who is responsible for all this building certainly seems single-minded. Readers will be convinced that these are real trucks hard at work, right up to the very end. An added bonus for truck lovers is the book jacket, whose inside contains a poster with all the machines that appear in the book. Not only is there a bulldozer, but there are brief descriptions of a payloader, a crawler crane, and a cab-over semi. Goodness! Who knew there were so many different types of trucks and machines needed for building? Clearly, this one will be a favorite for would-be builders.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

With one word per spread, construction trucks work together to build something. When it's all done, the child playing with the construction truck toys knocks it down, so he can do it all over again. Could be used to talk about making something even better if your creation is destroyed. The work put into the 3D objects used for the illustrations are really impressive and perfect for a book about construction trucks!

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations, which I believe are photographs of a real building set, are the captivating part of this book. The discerning picture-reader can ask questions or make up a story about what is in each picture. Toward the end, the reader may need to flip back and forth to figure out what happened. I think that's part of the point of the book! The little clay boy is a little bit creepy to me, and we do not see who is building until the end of the book.

[Jessalyn Plant · Rating 3 out of 5]

My little boy is obsessed with construction vehicles. This book is one of his current favorites. It was pretty boring for me to read to him at first as each page only has one simple word on it, but as time has gone on we have added our own actions and extra bits of fun to the story! Now we both enjoy it😝

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One construction action verb per page, with an extreme closeup of rough play construction toys in action. Suitable for toddlers who will relate to the actions of building with blocks (and then crashing them down), that invites adult readers to have the child explain the story further in their own words.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a large and colorful picture book with minimal (one word per double page spread) text and vivid photographs showing work at a construction site. Little ones who enjoy construction vehicles at work will appreciate the detailed illustrations including the results of removing a critical piece at the end.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

With one word spreads that introduce great vocabulary words (like Hoist, Balance, Drag, and Haul) and show vehicles carefully building a structure our of blocks, young readers who love construction (like my two year old) will enjoy this book.

[Kelly]

Lots of good verbs here and lots of colors on all the pages.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

These 3D builds are amazing!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simple text but my kids really enjoyed

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Melissa the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute toddler book!

[Gladimore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazed by the 3-D illustrations made from simple materials. They create such a magical world that it makes me want to jump into my studio and create as well!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visually interesting with bright colors and a lot of toy construction equipment. However, not a great story to read to groups for storytime as there is only one word per page. Much better for 1:1.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great job by Red Nose Studios. They are so creative with such an attention to detail.

[Syntha Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for toddlers

[SamSamSam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great illustration style for me, it was hard for me to tell what I was looking at. Good vocab though!

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

These illustrations and simple construction words will engage many young readers, for sure!

If you have readers seeking books with construction trucks, this book is for you!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearly wordless. Beautiful work.

[Margaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hardcore construction site turns out to be child's play.

[Trish Fibs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite for my 5 year old - simple words for kindergarteners to learn and full of shapes, colours and construction vehicles. Fantastic.

[Rebecca Caufman]

Just one word is on each page with an incredible picture that shows the meaning of the word.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really adore all illustrations by Red Nose Studio!

[Y.Poston]

a great action word exploration of building

[Jeretta Hall-Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the simplicity and the fascinating artwork! Preschoolers will love it too!

[Alyssa Gudenburr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool book with unique illustrations. One word per page makes a great storytime book.

[Carol Farrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what was being built at first but the ending makes this book worth reading and I think will bring joy to children.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The text is simple with one word on each page, but the illustrations are amazing! The illustrations are photographs of hand-built sculptures.

Reviewed from a library copy.