What Do Wheels Do All Day?

by April Jones Prince, Giles Laroche (Illustrator)

Yeah, what do wheels do all day?
Well . . . they push . . . race . . . stroll . . . fly . . . whiz . . . and spin . . . all day long!

Simple, direct text, combined with brilliant cut-paper relief illustrations, captures kids’ fascination with “things that go” and opens their minds to the wide variety of wheels and what they do.

Genres: Picture Books, Transport, Storytime, Childrens, Nonfiction, Juvenile, Stem

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

April Jones Prince is a children's book author specializing in history and books for the very young.

Reviews

[Alex Ronnenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: nonfiction
Awards: none
Audience: prek-K
a. The topic of this book is wheels
b. This book presents wheels in a kid friendly way by having lots if illustrations and simple sentences. Some pages only have one word.
c. In this book there is a title page, table of contents, illustrations, and words on each page.
d. This book could be used to teach younger children what wheels do and also help them read. The words chosen are short (mostly 1-2 syllables) which are easy to read words for beginning readers.

[Audrey Arnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Do Wheels Do All Day? by April Jones Prince is a great book for kids who are younger and have a lot of questions about how things work. This book shared all the different kinds of wheels in the world and what they are used for. I loved that the book had a combination of real photographs and illustrations. This book would be a good one to read to kids in kindergarten who are learning how things work. I think this book would be too simple for anyone older than 1st graders. I really like that this book showcases all kinds of wheels and where they go.

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

Author Prince and illustrator Laroche share what types of things wheels do throughout a day. There are great verbs throughout the story that is told with simple sentences in a large font. The pictures are a combination of drawing, painting, and cutting. It's a great picture book that could also be non-fiction.

2019 storytime theme: wheels

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the perfect size for little hands, and each spread has digestible images of the many places one might see wheels in this world. There were a few new Spanish vocab words for me in here, and I'm not sure whether the meaning exactly matches the English text, but overall it seemed pretty close.

[Presley Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good interaction group that shows what different types of wheels do every day, like car wheels, bicycle wheels, train wheels, etc. This can be used to show kids how people get to places and the fun things wheels can do, like carnival rides

[Shari (Shira) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple text, engaging illustrations, content that generates conversation

[MelMon Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world of everything round.

[Cecilia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good vocab book for the mechanically minded child. I had hoped when I picked it up it was going to be a bit more than that. Ah well.

[Ethan & Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew wheels were so versatile.

[Library Lady Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wheels are everywhere.

[Phyllis M. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I now what wheels do all day! It's nice to know that and it took a children's book to tell me the obvious. THAT's why I never truly grew up.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great paper illustrations, but not much of a story. Could be a nice way to show little kids all the ways wheels work.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for a wheels or transportation storytime

[Colorado Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book for non-fiction, what types of things wheels help us do, short lines and they rhyme!
Might use for storytime.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t actually use, but a good NF addition for storytime. Pre-K-k.

[Sariah Shellman · Rating 4 out of 5]

(2006) This an adorable book and a short, informational read. I think older students may look down on it for its simplicity, but young students would love its illustrations.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

"What Do Wheels Do All Day" by April Jones Prince is a pretty good concept book. The whole book shows the reader all the different functions a wheel has. For example, wheels can be pushed, pulled, pedaled, and towed. The book also shows the reader how wheels are everywhere we look even though we don't always realize them. Even though this would be good book for young children, it does get a little repetitive and long. I do understand that Prince made it repetitive in order to further emphasize all that wheels do. Ending the book with, "Wheels work, and wheels pay. That's what wheels do all day" was a clever ending, but it seemed a little lazy compared to how Prince worded the rest of the story. I understand that concept books are difficult ones to write, but I do not recommend this book for a classroom. I think children will find the illustrations boring and mediocre, as I did. Illustrations truly have a lot to do with the success of a book, and a concept book has a lot of reliance on the illustrations as well. While the theme is interesting, the writing and illustrations fell short.

[Chantee Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a suitable book for beginning readers and to be read aloud in the classroom. The pictures and book itself are very large and detailed. On a biased note, I love the art style throughout the book. It would keep a child's attention in that it is also a pattern book, rhyming throughout, and it has qualities to start a good conversation amongst the class. A particular picture has an older gentleman in a wheelchair just as happy as everyone else in the same picture; this is a great teaching tool for tolerance and showing children that people are indeed people. Children may also engage in conversation and discuss other uses of the wheel that are not found in the book, at it does give many examples. Even so, the examples are on a level a child may understand and relate to from their personal experiences.

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review
The purpose of this book is to show and tell children the purpose of wheels. “Wheels zoom, wheels putter… sometimes, wheels spit and sputter.” It utilizes layered, cut-and-paste-texture pictures to depict the jobs of wheels throughout our daily life. It is full of bright colors, using simple and large shapes, as well as simple and short phrases.

Response
I awarded this book four stars because it uses bright colors and large print to teach children about one of our most fundamental tools, but it could have brought up more on the subject, such as history. However, it does a good job of being an easy, memorable read; it constantly repeat the word “wheel,” and uses narrative/informational illustrations throughout so children can make vocabulary connections.

[Ashlynn Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the audience what all wheels do each day. It was interesting to think about because often times we forget that wheels do so much more than we give them credit for being able to do. It shows all the functions of a wheel from pushing, racing, strolling, flying, whizzing, and so many more things.

This book had wonderful pictures and would be great for children. The words get a little repetitive but that would be good for a young child.

I would use this book in probably a Kindergarten classroom. The words were big and the pictures were very fun. Also children could learn what all wheels do.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple rhymes introduce readers to the movement of wheels (“Wheels roll, wheels stroll. Wheels parade, and wheels patrol.”). Laroche’s intricate paper collage illustrations are the highlight of the book, featuring nearly every conceivable wheel, from pinwheels, spinning tops, and unicycles to windmills, merry-go-rounds, and even a ferris wheel. First grade teachers will find this title fits equally well in units on shapes, transportation, and simple machines.

[Kiddo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not particularly taken with this book, but kido can't seem to get enough of it! The illustrations, while not my cup of tea, are striking and were clearly a lot of work. There is no story just answers to the question that is the title (answers like 'push' and 'whiz'). The definition of 'wheel' is loose (including for example gears). Still, we have been reading it several times a day for a couple of weeks.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find out all how wheels move, and all the different ways they help us through the day, in this simple picture book.

Text is brief and fine for sharing.

In the past, I have been successful in incorporating movements along while reading this in story time; I have asked listeners to roll their arms every time the text says "wheel" with some success, and incorporating movements with other action words in the book.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at Baby/Toddler story time on 5/24/11: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Baby Time (at another branch) on 8/22/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Preschool Story Time on 11/30/16: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this in my preschool story time and think it would be good for the younger set too. It's very simple text and really great pictures. There's a lot of room to talk about the different wheels as you read and ask questions. One of my preschoolers said, "Wow, wheels sure do a lot of things," as we we were reading the book.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would suggest sharing this book with a Kindergarten or first grade classroom. There is very minimal text through the book, allowing this to perhaps be one of the books the students "could read."
The book shows the various uses and places we find wheels and how important they are to us in our lives.

[Kaylee Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do wheels do all day? You may ask. Wheels do many things as we find out in this book! They spin, whirl, twirl, and peddle. This book is poetic and describes different places you might see a wheel in action. This is a really cute book! This book could be used when discussing wheels, gears, and automobiles. I recommend this book!

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my 2 year old's absolutely favorite books. If you have a kid who loves things that go and is wheel obsessed this is an awesome book. The words are very rhythmic and he loves to hand it to me and say "READ!"

[Kristin Traina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adorable book and an easy read. It has a lot of repeated words and some rhymes making it easier for young students. It Would also be good for a lesson on motion, or simple machines, but it is a very simple book so older students may find it boring.
Grades: K- motion of objects

[Maggie KutsBorg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had good luck with this book at toddler storytime: there are lots of opportunities to introduce actions, count items, spot colors, and hear new vocabulary words. The kids really enjoyed it, and I like how it can be modified to fit their engagement level.