Little Blue Truck
Blue's greetings establish both the farm animals' sounds and the relationships that matter later. When the self-important dump truck gets stuck, Blue helps first and the animals then answer Blue's call, so the rescue follows directly from the earlier pattern of attention and courtesy.
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle is estimated to take about 5.5 minutes to read aloud (361 words, 2 sentences a spread). Best for ages 2-4.
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- Estimated read-aloud time
- about 5.5 minutesEstimated read-aloud time
- Words
- 361Word count
- Sentences per spread
- 2Text density
- Re-read tolerance
- 5/5strong repeat appeal
- Vocabulary level
- 2/5everyday words
- Best for
- Ages 2-4Age range
Our review
The opening greetings do two jobs at once: they supply the animal-sound refrain and show that Blue notices every creature he passes. The larger dump truck refuses that exchange, then becomes stuck in mud; Blue's decision to help brings the same animals back as a coordinated rescue. The social point is carried by the plot's cause and effect rather than by the final moral alone.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is the leaner choice for practicing a fixed animal-and-color question. Little Blue Truck adds rhyme, vehicle noises, a boastful foil and a problem that the group must physically solve. The rescue depends on a plainly stated kindness lesson, so readers looking for a less directed interpretation may prefer Brown Bear.
Before you buy it
The dump truck's lesson is explicit, and the closing moral leaves little ambiguity for a reader to work out. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? offers a purer animal-naming refrain; Little Blue Truck adds a conflict, group rescue and vehicle sound play.
Themes
- trucks
- farm animals
- kindness
- rhyme
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Lists Little Blue Truck is on
- 20 booksBooks for 2 Year OldsThe useful distinction at this stage is between a book that invites an immediate action and a story whose events need to stay in order.
20 booksBooks for 3 Year OldsChoose between joining a repeated line, following an accumulating problem and explaining what a character knows.
8 booksBooks Like Pete the CatPete the Cat can mean a sung response, a recurring phrase, a color sequence or a relaxed comic character.
8 booksBooks Like The GruffaloThe Gruffalo combines rhyme, repeated encounters, threats and a trickster’s reversal.- 8 booksBooks Like If You Give a Mouse a CookieThe key device in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is a request that produces the next request until the chain returns to its starting point.
- 14 booksPreschool Books for Group StorytimeFor preschool group storytime, the useful question is whether everyone can follow and take part from where they are sitting.