Digger, Dozer, Dumper

First, the book is fantastic. Slonim's engaging illustrations combine perfectly with Vestergaard's whimsical rhymes to create an excellent entertaining AND educational experience for kids. And grownups enjoy reading it to the kids because it's just adorable!! Second, the board book is not an abridged version - it's the full book, but in a very sturdy board book format. I LOVE this. And the price can't be beat :-) . This would make a great gift for SO many occasions - baby showers, birthdays, Christmas, stocking gift, in the Easter basket ... or just because (which is why I purchased it for a niece and nephews ;-) ).

I bought this book as a present for my son (20 months) based on all the rave reviews and his intense big-rig obsession. After receiving it and giving it an initial flip-through, however, I was worried that it wasn't, in fact, all that, and I nearly returned it. It just didn't grab me on my first reading, and I wasn't sure my son would be interested in the specific details of all these different trucks.Boy was I wrong. This has become one of our absolute favorite books. My son recites parts of it from memory at random times, and requests it constantly at story time, naming the specific poems he likes best (dump truck, steam roller, ambulance). I love that we can sit and read the entire book, or just jump around and read one or two poems, depending on what mood we're in.The poems are very, very solid -- the rhythm is good (no clunker lines that force you to adjust your reading speed to make work), the content is interesting, and the lengths are perfect. They certainly stand up to high-frequency repetition. And the pictures are wonderful, with funny details like a dog behind the wheel of a truck, which my son loves to point out.My 3-year-old daughter also loves to read this with us (her favorite is the cherry picker, which is shown rescuing a cat from a tree). I love that the machines are a mix of male and female, and there are both girls and boys drawn in the pictures. So, to gently refute one review below -- sure, this is a boys' book, but it's just as much a girls' book, too.

As a mom who tries not to subscribe too much to traditional gender roles, I was not expecting to have a little boy who loves trucks so much. And yet here I am with a newly verbal two year old who can't get enough of trucks, especially construction vehicles! I ordered this book not expecting much, but it's really very wonderful. It has cute rhymes and does a good job explaining what each truck does in an easy way. It also doesn't make me want to gauge my eyes out like so many other rhyming books. It's actually kind of fun for me to read to my toddler!Most importantly, it's diverse! The trucks are both male and female (because it's not a children's book if every single thing isn't anthropomorphised) and the people driving the trucks in the illustrations are diverse races and genders. If I were being really picky, I'd prefer to have more of the trucks be "female" and maybe see more "differently abled" truck drivers (though not sure how realistic that even is; how likely is a person in a wheelchair to be operating a construction vehicle?) As far as childrens books go, you can't get much better than this with regard to diversity.

If your little one loves trucks, this is a book you need to add to storytime! The pictures are colorful and the story is fun and simple. This book is a hit in our household!

If I could speak to every person who has a truck/digger lover at home I would tell them to buy this book. All of us, parents, siblings, grand parents, and care providers are reading to our little people constantly. We want for them to feel the world around them in a myriad of ways and reading is usually a home run. This book holds a perspective that is imperative to all our minds, but esecially when we are young and unable to be self reflective. The gender of the trucks is balanced, the book is very well written ( poetry!), the illustrations are gentle and kind, the message is clear: you can find positivity everywhere you look. Vestergaard brings the diggers to life without tension. She makes their world exciting and explains their jobs comprehensively. My 2 year old son loves this book. He even has me making up songs to the poems because they are fun, intelligent, and they rhyme. Buy this book, it is a good environment to step into for you and your child.

My one-year-old grandson loves this book! I think we sometimes underestimate how responsive very small children can be to well-constructed language. Each page contains a poem about one or two different kinds of truck - but the poems are longer and more complex than one would expect in a board book. The vocabulary is relatively advanced, and I particularly like the skillful way that the meter and rhymes are handled - the poems actually SCAN correctly, which is not always a given in children's books. Even if my little one does not understand everything he's hearing, I'm convinced he appreciates the flow of the text (and the cute pictures!).

My grandson liked the book, the stickers an extra bonus

Lovely book but American English.

My 3 year old is fond of vehicles and this became his fast favorite. It had vehicles like cherry picker and tow truck; something that I rarely find in other books.All trucks are described using peoms. Since we are Indians my son's mother tongue is not English. So even if I read it to him he doesn't enjoy it much.On the other hand, my 5 year old daughter who is not into vehicles also surprisingly enjoys this book. Especially the peoms on the last page.

ブリッピーが好きで、重機好きになった息子(2歳)が激ハマり！私は英語が出来ないので、調べながらの音読ですが、息子はそれでも良さそうなので、英語の音読が出来る私、と、好きな言語で好きな重機の話が聞ける息子でお互いにwin-winの関係になっています。

My son is only 20 months old and has more truck knowledge then most adults thanks to this book!