Trucks

by Wil Mara

Who can resist trucks? They’re loud. They’re complicated. They have wheels twice as tall as your dad. Trucks! has many cool images of the trucks we know and love. There are also curiosities like the $3 million mining truck that’s "like driving a house." This level 1 text is revved up with sound words and images to steer young readers on the road to reading success.

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Genres: Transport, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Trucks, School, Epic

32 pages, Paperback

Published September 8, 2009

About the author

Wil Mara has worked as an author for over 34 years and currently has more than 325 books in print. He has written both fiction and nonfiction, for children and adults. His books have won multiple awards, reached bestseller lists, earned excellent reviews, and been translated into more than a dozen languages. 2005’s Wave won the New Jersey Notable Book Award, and 2012’s The Gemini Virus remained on Amazon’s list of ‘Ten Bestseller Medical Thrillers’ for 14 consecutive weeks. The most recent novel in his disaster series, Fallout, was nominated for the Edgar Award for Novel of the Year. And his children’s nonfiction publications have won countless awards and terrific reviews in all the leading trade journals, including Booklist, School Library Journal, Kirkus, and others.

Much of his work for children has been nonfiction for the school-library market. He also ghostwrote five of the popular ‘Boxcar Children’ mysteries. And starting in 2019, Rosen Publishing released the first of his new ‘Twisted’ series, which has been described as “Twilight Zones for kids.” It became the most pre-ordered fiction series in the company’s history. The first ‘Twisted’ book, The Videomaniac, was released on January 1 and sold through its first printing in less than a month. The second, House of a Million Rooms, was released on March 1 and, just a few weeks later, was chosen as a Main Selection Title by the Junior Library Guild.

Wil was also an editor, administrator, and executive inside the industry for over 20 years, working for such houses as Scholastic, McGraw-Hill, Macmillan, and Prentice-Hall until turning to fulltime writing in 2005. He is an associate member of the NJASL and an executive member of the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Center for the Book, which is an affiliate of the US Library of Congress. He is also the vice president of the Literary Alliance of New Jersey, the host of the ‘Voice of American Libraries’ podcast, and the 2019 recipient of the Literary Lion of New Jersey Award, whose past winners include Gus Friedrich, Dean Emeritus of Rutgers University, and Joyce Carol Oates, National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Wil is also an experienced speaker, presenter, and voice artist, having visited more than 300 schools and other institutions, and done the audio readings for many books, including his 2012 thriller The Gemini Virus. He continues to speak to audiences across the country (including via video) and do voice work as his writing schedule permits.

Reviews

[Faloni © · Rating 5 out of 5]

The librarian told me we would really enjoy reading this book at our last club meeting. It is all about trucks and kept beginning readers engaged, page after page. The frog jokes are clever, like the one about the frog who’s car got stuck. It’s fun to say toad truck (with a frog voice) 🐸 like tow truck. This book features images of tow trucks, fire trucks, garbage trucks and other kinds of trucks.

[Zina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trucks is a cool little book. Each page shows a different truck and it explains the trucks job or what it’s used for. The book has real pictures/ snapshots of the trucks and I think children will be able to recognize the trucks if they were to see them again, just based on the pictures in the book. I don't think this book will hold the childs attention for a long time but I think the monster truck picture will catch their eye.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun basic reader for kids interested in trucks. Its good for those dorky kids who like lame jokes too, because there are a handful of lame truck jokes, which i know my nephew will adore. This book has a good introduction to big rigs and shows the panel, explaining some of the functions of various buttons.

[Andria Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about different types of trucks

I thought this book was good for very young children. The pictures are simple, the words are short. It is educational in that it tells about the different types of trucks and what they do.

(informational)

[Karina]

This will be an adequate book for 1st-2nd grade. This book includes different types of trucks. Students could use the book to have a mini representation or a free-write on the truck they find to be most interesting.

[Alaina Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a simple book presenting facts about trucks.

[Latosha Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduces a variety of different types of trucks (Dump trucks, Tow trucks, fire truck, and garbage truck). This book illustrates exactly what these different types of trucks look like through the use of photographs. This would be a good book for a struggling reader or beginning reader. There are no large paragraphs on the pages, therefore, students will not be intimidated by the amount of text on the page. The book also includes the meaning of vocabulary terms that students may not know. This book can be used in a transportation mini lesson. Students can then write about different types of trucks they have seen. If students know someone that drives one of the trucks discussed in the book, the students will be encouraged to write about that person and their truck using descriptive language.

[Sima · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to introduce students to some of the nonfiction conventions. There is a two page spread for each of the different types of trucks mentioned in this book. I love the the "narrator" in this book, Slick. His facial expressions are wonderful! I also like the jokes they have for each type of truck. For example, "How did the little car dress up for Halloween?" "Like a MONSTER truck" (pg 5).

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have a child that loves trucks of every shape and size this book is for them! It's informative but not so full of facts that is boring. My special needs teenage son that loves trucks would sit and everytime I turned the page I would ask him which truck it was and he would answer correctly on most. It's not just 18 wheelers, but things like Liebherr T282, armored truck, etc.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son loves the National Geographic readers series. He can learn about a variety of topics in a consistent format at a level that is appropriate for him. He wants to read every one!!

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ged read 6-16-13

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

my son saw this today and had to get it. as soon as we got home he had me read it to him and he was asking all sorts of questions about trucks.

[Jackie316 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short & sweet. The Liebherr T282 is awesome!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was filled with great introductory information about trucks. The photos were very interesting to the students with whom I was working. The were led to "look up" more trucks online.