Love Is a Truck (Love Is)

Novesky and Gillingham follow Love Is a Tutu with a lighthearted, vehicle-centric reflection on love. Some of the analogies in Novesky's mostly unrhymed verse work better than others: the idea that "Love is a loader. Love is a lifter" in one constructed-themed scene has real resonance, compared to lines that just name-check vehicles ("Love is a dump truck, rounded with dirt./ A bulldozer, a digger, a rolling cement mixer"). Gillingham's clean graphics showcase one child's very evident love of toy trucks; the brown-skinned, overalls-clad child's gender isn't apparent, a reminder that truck love is universal. Ages 2-6. (Nov.)

Toddler-PreS--Fire trucks usually get all the love, but in this book, there is an abundance of love for trucks of all types and sizes. With everything from dump trucks to ice-cream trucks to cement trucks, this honey of a title conveys the simple joy of creative play. An adorable brown-skinned tot with cross-hatched red cheeks is all smiles and giggles as he (or she) plays from morning to night with dozens of vehicles. While the text is simple and sweet without being cloying, the real star of the show is the vintage-looking, geometric two-color illustrations, done in shades of red and black with touches of warm grays and white. The thick pages make this a delight to hold for multiple readings either one-on-one in a lap or in a baby program at the library. VERDICT This enchanting board book is a first purchase to use in both circulating and story collections.--Lisa G. Kropp, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY