B Is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC

by June Sobel, Melissa Iwai (Illustrations)

Get ready for a ride through the alphabet at a busy construction site. There's a big yellow B ulldozer, a tall shiny C rane, and a rusty red D ump truck--and the construction crew is hard at work. But what are they building?
Melissa Iwai's bright, bold illustrations perfectly complement June Sobel's irresistible rhyming text. Join the excitement as the workers build, scoop, and dig their way from A, for A sphalt, to the end of the alphabet for an exciting roller-coaster ride !

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

June Sobel was born in New York City and grew up in the Long Island suburb of Oceanside, New York. She graduated Skidmore College and has an MFA in Painting from Stanford University. The birth of her son renewed her interest in the read aloud magic of picture books. June loves the challenge of creating books that awaken the wonder of words and pictures in children as well as keep the child alive in adults. She wrote her first book B IS FOR BULLDOZER illustrated by Melissa Iwai when she couldn't find an ABC book on construction for her truck obsessed three year old. Her books include SHIVER ME LETTERS - A PIRATE ABC illustrated by Henry Cole and the THE GOODNIGHT TRAIN series illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith. THE GOODNIGHT TRAIN series continues with new books coming in 2024 and 2025. She is also the author of the TOW TRUCK JOE series with HO! HO! HO! TOW TRUCK JOE released in time for the 2023 holiday season. Children beginning kindergarten can look forward to FIRST DAY! HOORAY! before the 2024 school year. When June is not enjoying adventure travel, she loves to take pictures, read, hike, watch birds and make things grow. She lives in Westlake Village, California.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids love this book. Cute story using the alphabet about the construction of an amusement park.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was impressed by June Sobel's B is for Bulldozer. Most alphabet books--though not all alphabet books--"teach" the alphabet but fail to tell a larger story. B is for Bulldozer is clearly an alphabet book, but, it is also an entertaining story TOLD IN RHYME. An amusement park is being built. It takes about a year from start of construction to opening day, but for curious children watching the action (from afar) it is a delight! By the end, the children are ready to ZOOM on the roller coaster.

[Alley Denney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very cute book for very young students. Early Childhood teachers would enjoy reading this to their students because it incorporates a fun story while teaching them their alphabet. This book is definitely only appropriate for younger students.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Describes the construction of a theme park, each action undertaken starts with a different letter of the alphabet. Unlike many alphabet books the letter is not showcased beyond being slightly bolded. Can't decide whether to use this for my story time or not.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It rhymes (REAL rhymes). It's construction and the alphabet. Caught toddler's attention immediately.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The political correctness is killing me. How ridiculous! There just aren't equal numbers of men and women on construction sites. AND THAT'S OKAY.

[Lauren Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a phenomenal job of introducing the elements of a construction site with the correspondence of being an alphabet book. With the use of the alphabet, children can be engaged in the story or a construction site while mastering the alphabet. The letters for each alphabet word are clear as they are bolded and colorful. In addition, June Sobel does a great job of combining alphabet words with machines or tools that go together on a construction site. For example, she uses mallets for her M-word and nails for her N-word making the story flow smoothly. The illustrations in the story are amazing. They are filled with detail and really capture the alphabet words and their uses. The illustrations also use lots of diversity when showing the people in the story. The workers and people at the carnival are very diverse with their races, genders, and body types. I thought this story was great although I did not give it 5 stars because I think it would not be the best book to teach a huge group or class the alphabet because of the construction theme.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is sort of between your standard alphabet book and a story book. Each letter is the focus of an object on the page but the words are directly incorporated into the story rather than an “A is for Apple” approach. The story follows the construction of an amusement park. One of my favorite things was watching the progress and the passage of time in the illustrations, which clearly change through the seasons. It gives a nice sense of the long time you’d have to wait to see an amusement park ride built. It’s a favorite of my son and has been for years.

[Kisha Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awards: I didn't find any awards

Grade level : K-2

Summary: The book will teach young children the alphabet. The construction ABC book let readers know how things are made while introducing them to new words.

Review: This is a great book for young readers. I liked how the book showed a variety of vehicles with colorful illustrations.

In Class Use: This could at used in the morning at circle time when reciting the alphabet.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad
Engaging for an individual child

Not recommended for classrooms unless you have a lot of space- there are better alphabet books out there

Illustrations were adequate but photos would have been better

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This alternates between some pretty construction-specific words and some words that really aren't construction-related at all.

I liked that the story was about building something specific (an amusement park).

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A colourful rhyming board book in which the reader is introduced to the construction of an amusement park - from A to Z.
(Note: for K the illustration is inaccurate if the workers are being responsible enough to avoid accidents.)

[Kaylynn Johnsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rhyming book for all the little construction, big truck loving kids out there. June Sobel runs through the A-B-Cs all while building the suspense. What is it going to be?

Melissa Iwai's illustrations will appeal to the child and the child like.

[Laura Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book! My kids aren't obsessed with construction vehicles but they still like this and it's a fun way to work on the alphabet. It's a nice bonus that the result of the construction is an adjustment park!

[Mrs Tupac · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son loves construction.
This book was an easy read since he knew most of the machine names . Loved it .

[Mrs Tupac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read my son loves anything construction so he knew most of the trucks names :) (:

[Carla Belyea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love how the words flow with the story of building a roller coaster.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought that "K" (ka-boom), "X" (excitement), and "Z" (zoom) were cheats.

Liked the story of them building an amusement park.

[Jenn Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that this alphabet book is not just a collection of things, but actually does have a gradual story that it builds to.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Points that they use the correct names of construction equipment. I just expected more construction words, and not as many basic (nail, zoom, la-boom, etc.)

[Ice 9 · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://letterstocassiandotherfolks.b...

[Kimberly]

1 sentence per page. A to Z book related to construction on a new amusement park. Colorful. A bit of a rhyming scheme.

[Carrie Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son loves this book

[Vickie Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

The letter starts the word, great illustrations, dreaming, construction, building

[Gabriella]

Awards: No awards
Recommended grades: Pre-k through 1st

Summary:
This book is about the construction of a new amusement park. The book introduces many different vocabulary words used in construction and within these words are a highlighted letter. As you read through the book, you are reading each letter of the alphabet on each page.

Review:
This book is a great read for younger grades and preschool since it allows children to identify the letters of the alphabet in order within the words on each page. The text is minimal and the font is large and easier to read. Overall, this book is great for students who are learning the alphabet or identify letters that make up words.

In Class Uses: Morning reading, lesson on the letters of the alphabet, lesson on identifying and sounding out the letters that make up a word. Also, having students look in their environment with an adult and identify what letter of the alphabet that word starts with. For example, looking at a stop sign and identifying the first letter of the word stop.

[Christine Heron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun romp through the alphabet with the use of rhyming, and onomatopoeia.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

B Is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC by June Sobel, illustrated by Melissa Iwai, follows the progress as an amusement park is built.

Iwai's bright illustrations were done in acrylic on board. Seasons are shown as the park rises. The overhead view of the park is effective. My favorite images include asphalt & bulldozer, grader & hard hat, ka-boom & loader, scaffolds & tools, and the last two images.

This is a clever concept combining construction and an amusement park.
I like that a rusty dump truck is shown: construction vehicles aren't all pristine. I appreciate including tools, hard hats, which don't all match, some noise, and things like scaffolding. Both men and women construction workers are shown. The rhyming text shows each capital letter of the alphabet in color. This will be popular with young construction and amusement park fans.

For ages 2.5 to 5, things-that-go, construction, building, tools, vehicles, rhymes, amusement parks, and fans of June Sobel and Melissa Iwai.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduces the letters through construction machines. Nice illustrations and story.

[Sarah Nolet · Rating 5 out of 5]

B is for Bulldozer is an ABC book that depicts the construction of an amusement park called “Wonderland.” The book describes the process from start to finish as the park goes from paving the asphalt to when the work is done. The story uses the alphabet as a way to describe what is happening in the construction process. Each letter describes a process or event that happens as the story unfolds. For example, the letter L is used to describe how the “huge Loader scoops dirt from the ground (Sobel, 2003).” Throughout the story the illustrations depict the work going on and the public watching intently as it happens. As the story unfolds, more and more people come to watch and you can see the excitement on their faces. By the end, everyone is enjoying the park and the illustrations communicate this with bright tones.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Construction Equipment! Trucks! A theme park! Of course my son was going to like this. The soft, rounded but realistic illustrations are reminiscent of Roadwork, that classic rhyming construction text, though pieces have been left out of this construction to make it an alphabet book. My son especially likes the last page, with "ZOOM!" as the culmination. The rhyme and rhythm were not at all hard on the parental reader.
This book falls somewhere between Bang! Boom! Roar! a busy crew of dinosaurs! and The Construction Alphabet Book for charm and enjoyment. Pair with Road Work, Kate Banks' The Night Worker, or one of the other construction alphabet books, or with The Lot at the End of My Block by Kevin Lewis for a construction story.