… and trucks, and cars, and … well, every kind of wheeled vehicle you can think of in these three fun new books for the truck-mad child in your life. 
Everything Goes on Land
Brain Biggs
Balzer + Bray
ISBN: 978 0 06 195809 0
This large-format book is drawn in a bold, colourful cartoony style, and uses a trip to the city with a boy and his father to showcase lots and lots and lots of vehicles. As the pair make their way around town, they find bikes, RVs, construction equipment, buses, and more, with each page themed to one kind of transportation in many varieties. There are lots of extra things to look for, too, from silly things to side stories and birds with hats. The level of detail means there is always something new to find or focus on, even though the drawings are chunky enough in style not to be Where’s-Waldo blinding. My kids are loving this one, which I’d brought home from work before it arrived at my house. This is worth the buy, for sure , especially at the price, which is surprisingly reasonable for such a big, fun treat of a book. I was about to go out and buy it myself, and am looking at it for a gift!
Under the Hood
Christophe Merlin
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 978 0 7636 5535 8
This lift-the-flap book is aimed young, with not much of a story in play, but it is full of silly surprises and tricks that are at exactly the right level for preschoolers. Underwear causing the transmission problem? BWAHAHAHA! Yep, just right.
The flaps are layered in a way I’ve never seen before, and make for extra fun in hunting for the joke. The illustrations have a slightly retro feel to them, and the whole package is lovely, and very Candlewick – that is to say, the paper is thick, matte, and creamy, and the entirety is wonderfully understated.
This is a great one for sharing, though I think because most of the flaps are pasted on top of the page, as you do with non-board formats, it is better shared together until you are fairly certain your child won’t tear the flaps off by accident or design. (That’s experience speaking, that is!)
Amazing Pop-Up Trucks
by Robert Crowther
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 978 0 7636 5587 7
Let me start by saying that the title of this book is not an overstatement. Pop-ups have come an astonishingly long way with the use of computer-aided paper-engineering, and the complexity is stunning. This pop-up features on every one of its five two-page spreads a full-on pop-up trucks that leaps right out of the book into 3D.
The trucks are interesting ones, the kind that fascinate young children – a car transporter, a concrete truck, a monster truck, a garbage truck, and a train truck – and each page features some information (including stats – did you know an average empty garbage truck weighs 32 tons?!) about its star, as well as some little flaps with photos and more details. This is almost dressing, though, and just gives you something to read together as you marvel at the truck standing before you. Take a look at this example, below. Amazing, indeed.
These sound great!