Big Rig Rescue!

Look to the helpers in this love song to rescue vehicles in cold, remote places.

A semi "haulin' tons of scrap" has rolled over in a swirling snowstorm. The driver is unhurt, but getting this big rig cleared off the road is going to take some serious towing muscle. First on the scene is 14-wheeler Big Orange, whose bearded, pale-skinned driver narrates the story. After ensuring safety at the site ("A tanker arrives to drain the fuel") and slicing through a twisted guardrail ("I love my metal-cutting rescue saw"), the narrator tries to lift the trailer with strategically placed airbags and winching--one of many vivid procedural scenes. But the toppled rig refuses to budge until another tow truck, Big Blue, arrives, piloted by a tan-skinned figure with a long ponytail and pink gloves. The two drivers hook cables onto either side of the semi, and with some get-'er-done engineering ("We run my line through a snatch block on the trailer to give us extra power"), the semi is righted ("Great roll, everyone!"), and it's back onto the icy road. Gall's (Jumbo: The Making of the Boeing 747) storytelling is as muscular as the rigs he celebrates: precisionist-style renderings continually move around and over the scene to satisfy the curiosity of truck aficionados, while detail-rich, matter-of-fact prose honors their enthusiasm and knowledge. Ages 3-5. Agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary. (Jan.)