Good Morning, Snowplow!

"Snow keeps falling fast and deep./ Miles to plow before you sleep." A snowplow, its driver, and his dog set to work during a nighttime storm in this meditative rhyming story by Bruss (Book! Book! Book!). When the rest of the town says goodnight, the snowplow's driver puts on the chains, starts the engine, and tests the lights, signals, and brakes. With the plow's hopper filled with salt and sand, the team makes its rounds amid whiteout conditions, complete with a car spinout. Bruss's simple seven-syllable couplets depict the nuts and bolts of plowing while emphasizing the solitary aspects of the work: "Lonely plowing all night long./ Tune the dial and sing a song." Similarly, the illustrators (A Poem for Peter) use deep-hued artwork--created using acrylic paint, colored pencil, pen, and collage--to evoke the storm's hush and swirl, as well as the bright sparkle as the sun rises on a snow day for delighted kids. Ages up to 3. (Oct.)

PreS-Gr 1—The painterly illustrations by Fancher and Johnson are the real star in this rhyming ode to the lone trucks working into the wee hours of many blustery nights. The rhythmic narrative follows a snow plow driver (and his dog) as he says goodnight to his neighborhood and gets ready for an oncoming storm. He picks up his salt, tests his rig, and plows into the blizzard. "Sno keeps falling fast and deep./Miles to plow before you sleep./Pay attention. What's ahead?/Take no chances. Stop instead." The man rescues a stranded driver, watches a midnight train blow snow from the tracks, and returns home just as everyone else is waking up. VERDICT A quietly heroic choice, perfect for preschool winter units and for construction truck lovers everywhere.—Jenna Boles, Greene County Public Library, Beavercreek, OH